THE  :N"ORTH  STAR 


THE    SOUTHERN    CROSS. 


VOL.  II. 


A  SKETCH  OF  THE  AT 


[ORS  CIRCULAR  TRIP. 


& 

THE  NORTH  STAR 


v-  a 


THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS 

BEING  THE 

PERSONAL  EXPERIENCES, 
IMPRESSIONS  AND  OBSERVATIONS 

OF 

MARGARETHA  WEPPNER, 

IN   A   TWO   YEARS'   JOURNEY   ROUND   THE   WORLD 
FOURTH  AMERICAN  EDITION. 

Two   VOLUMES. 
VOL.  II. 


ENGLISH  EDITION : 

PUBLISHED  BY 

SAMPSON  LOW,    MARSTON,    LOW   AND  SEARLE, 
CROWN  BUILDINGS,  188  FLEET  STREET,  LONDON. 


AMERICAN  EDITION : 
PUBLISHED   BY  THE  AUTHOR. 

1882. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and 
seventy-five, 

BY  MARGARETHA  WEPPNER, 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


WEED,    PARSONS  AND   COMPANY, 

PRINTERS     AND     ST E R E O T Y P E R S , 

ALBANY,   N.   V. 


TO  VOL.  II. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

Prince  Kaden  Salen  and  his  wife — Imperial  orders — Dr.  Bloem — • 
Obstinate  horses  —  Megamendong —  A  glorious  sunset  —  Sin- 
dang-laya — Gedeh — The  golden  Preanger — Return  to  Buiten- 
zorg — The  snowy  white  cradle,  and  the  stork  —  Batavia  — 
Departure — A  phenomenon  at  sea — Arrival  at  Singapore — The 
Glenarthney „ 1 

CHAPTER  II. 

Departure  for  Calcutta — A  charming  voyage — Sunset — Peaceful, 
holy  nights — The  Southern  Cross — Calcutta — A  beautiful, 
spiteful  woman  —  Fasting — The  restaurant  —  Kind  country 
people — Benares — Lucknow — Agra — The  Taj,  a  temple  of  love 
— Futtehpore  Sikree — My  escort,  Mr.  Ball — Delhi — The  in- 
tense heat — Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moll — A  sweet  baby — Saharunpore 
— Raj  pore -Ascent  to  the  Himalayas — The  good  and  patient 
natives 37 

CHAPTER  III. 

Mussoorie — The  French  convent  and  a  German  nun — My  kind 
hostess — A  glorious  sunrise — Delight  and  joy — Excursions — 
Peaks  and  pinnacles — A  pheasant — The  Cashmere  valley — 
The  blue  atmosphere — Three  happy  days — Farewell,  peaceful 
home — From  the  Himalayas  back  to  Delhi — Cawnpore  and 
Allahabad — The  German  convent — Jubbulpore — Nerbudda — 
Death  and  burial  of  a  pigeon — Arrival  in  Bombay — Bishop 
Meurin — Consul  Gumpert — Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Deimler — Goa 
— The  Governor — Return  to  Bombay — Mr.  Seward — The  con- 
fession— A  telegram  from  Allahabad 102 


vi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PAOB 

The  Caves  of  Elephanta — Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva — The  unex- 
pected arrival  of  a  lunatic  lady — A  series  of  telegrams  and 
letters  from  unknown  parties — Bishop  Meurin,  the  Lady  Supe- 
rior at  Bandora  and  the  pills — Difficulties  in  obtaining  a  pas- 
sage for  the  invalid — The  opera  Sakuntala — The  superinten- 
dent of  the  P.  and  0.  Company — A  passage  granted — Consul 
Qumpert  telegraphs  for  more  passage  money — Annoying 
telegrams — Departure  for  Suez — The  policy  of  the  bishop 
and  the  nuns — At  the  last  moment — Aden — The  Red  Sea — 
Sleepless  nights — Arrival  in  Suez 162 

CHAPTER  V. 

Suez  to  Cairo — The  poor  lunatic  very  troublesome — The  impu- 
dent rough  Arabs — Two  kind  Frenchmen — The  Prussian  Con- 
sulate at  Cairo — Insult  of  a  high-born  official — His  chivalrous 
colleague — The  French  hospitals  —  Excursions — Arrival  at 
Alexandria — The  French  hospital — Difficulties  in  obtaining  a 
passage  for  the  lunatic — My  poor  protegee  a  very  dangerous 
companion — An  attack  at  night — The  kindness  of  the  English 
Consul — A  longing  for  a  change 234 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Departure  for  the  Holy  Land — Port  Said — Jaffa — From  Jaffa  to 
Jerusalem — A  happy,  but  mysterious  night — My  first  impres- 
sion of  the  Holy  City — The  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre — 
Excursions — A  dangerous,  but  lucky  fall — Gethsemane— 
Mount  of  Olives — Bethany — The  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat  — 
Bethlehem — The  grotto  of  the  Infant  Saviour — The  grotto  of 
the  Shepherds — The  Milk  grotto — Return  to  Jerusalem — Our 
chatty  monk — A  saddening  scene  before  the  old  wall  of  Solo- 
mon's Temple — My  farewell  to  Jerusalem 273 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Return  to  Egypt — Some  general  advice — Jaffa — Port  Said — Arri- 
val in  Alexandria — Nine  days'  absence — The  cross  sister — 


CONTENTS.  vii 

PAGE. 

Found  my  poor  protegee  in  a  very  neglected  state — She  betrays 
a  dangerous  joy — A  passage  granted  at  last — A  kindly  letter 
from  the  English  consul — The  Lady  Superior  excited  and  rude 
— I  am  mistress  here — The  last  of  the  wild  Arabs — Departure 
for  Trieste — A  stifling  cabin — Corfu — Presentiment  of  danger 
— A  terror  at  night — A  fire  in  my  cabin — My  good  angel  near 
me — Miraculous  escape — Arrival  at  Trieste — Investigation  . . .  315 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

A  visit  from  the  English  consul-general,  the  vice-consul,  and  a 
German  doctor — Mr.  Simpson — Two  days  a  prisoner — The 
invalid  very  weak — A  letter  to  his  excellency,  Sir  H.  F.  How- 
ard— Departure  for  Munich — My  huge  servant — The  custom- 
house officials  at  Trieste — Railroad  accident — Matrei  In  Tyrol 
— Innsbruck — Rosenheim — Rough  treatment — Arrival  at  Mu- 
nich— The  English  ambassador  and  Professor  Dr.  Haug — 
Nymphenburg — Deceit  and  falsehood — Departure  for  Belgium 
— Fire  again — Arrest  of  an  innocent  trio — Release — Along  my 
beautiful  Rhine — Cologne — Arrival  at  Cortenbergh 345 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  unhappy  lunatic  received  at  the  convent — The  parting  from 
my  protegee  grieves  my  heart — I  am  at  home  and  see  my  dear 
mother — Return  to  Munich — Illness — The  convent  at  Nym- 
phenburg— No  clue  to  the  mystery — My  exhibition  at  Frank- 
fort-ou-the-Maine — Happy  as  a  queen  in  the  midst  of  my 
Oriental  treasures — At  Munich  again — Observations  and  re- 
flections— The  sad  position  of  the  women — Officers  and  soldiers 
— A  picture  and  a  retrospect 428 

CHAPTER    X. 

Hindoo  women — Golden  rules  of  life — Professor  M.  W. — 
Gracious  sir — Gracious  lady — A  mania  for  titles — The  baron 
waiter — King  William  and  Count  Bismarck — True  chevaliers 
— The  ideal  and  the  real  woman — The  different  nations — My 
opinions — Comparisons — A  final  conclusion — Have  not  for- 
gotten my  poor  protegee — With  a  happy,  grateful  heart,  I 
close  the  last  chapter  of  my  narrative 467 


THE  ITOKTH  STAR 

AMD 

THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

DB.  SCHEFFER  introduced  me  to  Prince  Raden  Salen,  a 
celebrated  painter  of  Java,  resident  in  Buitenzorg,  who 
had  lived  in  Germany  at  the  court  of  the  Duke  of 
Coburg-Gotha  for  ten  years. 

The  prince  presented  me  to  his  wife,  a  very  youthful 
Java  princess,  not  half  as  old  as  her  husband.  He  ap- 
peared to  be  very  fond  of  his  young  wife,  and  he  told  me 
that  she  was  a  thoroughly  good  child. 

The  prince,  as  a  prince,  was  very  communicative,  ex- 
plaining to  us  in  comical  broken  German  why  he  had  not 
married  a  German  princess,  and  why  he  had  married  a 
princess  of  Java.  He  knew,  so  he  assured  me,  many 
German  princesses,  countesses,  and  baronesses  at  the  court 
of  the  Duke  of  Coburg-Gotha,  who  hovered  about  him 
with  their  speculative  flatteries.  But  the  Prince  of  Raden 
Salen  would  marry  none  of  them.  He  was  a  prince  of 
Java,  and  as  such  he  would  marry  no  one  but  a  princess 
of  equal  birth  of  his  own  race. 
VOL.  n.  1 


2  THE  NORTH  STAR 

However,  the  prince  had  learnt  during  his  stay  in 
Europe  to  treat  a  wife  of  equal  birth  as  his  equal,  and  not 
as  his  slave,  and  he  was  anxious  to  show  me  that  he  acted 
on  what  he  had  learnt. 

As  I  was  sitting  beside  the  princess  on  the  sofa,  Prince 
Raden  Salen  took  his  wife's  hand,  kissed  it,  and  said  in 
broken  German,  "  All  the  women  of  my  race,  all  the  wives 
of  the  princes  of  Java  slaves  are.  My  wife  not  my  slave 
is,  my  wife  my  friend  is,  for  my  whole  life." 

The  princess  was  dressed  in  a  loose  "sarang,"  of  a 
poor  material,  but  costly  diamonds  were  glittering  in  her 
ears.  She  was  very  pleasant,  but  I  could  not  talk  to  her, 
and  her  husband  played  the  part  of  interpreter.  The 
prince  placed  very  great  confidence  in  me.  He  showed 

me  a  letter  from  the  Duchess  of  ,  in  the  German 

language,  and  asked  me  to  read  it.  He  gave  me  a  second 
and  a  third  letter,  which  had  been  sent  to  him  by  a  friend, 
Baron  H.,  at  the  court  of  the  Emperor  of  Austria.  The 
prince  insisted  upon  my  reading  the  three  letters,  and  I 
did  so. 

The  correspondence  between  the  Prince  Raden  Salen  in 
Java,  and  Baron  H.  in  Austria,  had  reference  to  a  painting 
and  an  Imperial  Order  of  Honour. 

Prince  Raden  Salen  had  painted  a  fine  picture  for 
the  Emperor  of  Austria,  but  before  he  sent  it  to  him 
lie  wished  to  make  sure  through  his  friend  at  the 
Imperial  court  what  Order  his  Majesty  would  bestow  upon 
him  as  a  reward  for  the  picture.  Baron  H.  arranged 
the  affair  according  to  the  wishes  of  the  prince,  and  in- 
formed him  by  post  what  Order  the  Emperor  of  Austria 
would  grant  him  in  exchange  for  the  picture.  Prince 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  ft 

Raden  Salen  then  sent  his  Majesty  the  picture,  and  the 
emperor  returned  the  prince  the  Order.  The  prince  was 
very  anxious  that  I  should  know  this,  and  it  would 
doubtless  please  him  that  others  should  learn  through 
these  lines  of  his  grand  Orders,  and  how  they  were 
obtained. 

Prince  Raden  Salen  has  presented  the  King  of  Holland 
with  a  picture  with  similar  ends  in  view,  and  has  received 
an  Order  from  him  also. 

He  showed  me  an  enormous  painting,  half-finished,  which 
he  intended  for  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Prussia,  now 
Emperor  of  Germany.  Whether  this  picture  also  obtained 
him  an  Order  I  do  not  know.  Oh,  what  a  worthy  traffic  in 
Imperial  and  Royal  Orders ! 

All  the  time  I  was  conversing  with  the  Prince  and 
Princess,  they  were  both  surrounded  by  a  number  of  slaves, 
who  knelt  and  crawled  to  their  master  on  the  floor  at  some 
distance,  whenever  he  gave  them  an  order,  crawling  out  of 
the  room  backwards.  The  prince's  nephew,  himself  a 
prince,  knelt  to  his  uncle.  Prince  Raden  Salen  was  of  one 
degree  higher  rank  than  his  nephew,  and  it  is  customaiy 
for  those  in  high  rank  to  behave  to  those  yet  higher  than 
themselves,  even  when  they  are  blood  relations,  with 
humility.  The  highest,  therefore,  are  alone  exempt  from 
having  to  kneel  in  princely  families.  What  a  stupid  princely 
custom ! 

The  prince  wished  me  to  see  the  beautiful  plants  and 
flowers  which  he  had  painted,  but  he  felt  that  it  would  be 
beneath  his  dignity  to  show  them  to  me  himself,  so  he 
made  a  sign  to  his  nephew,  who  was  kneeling  on  the 
ground  behind  a  table,  to  approach.  The  young  prince 


4  THE  NORTH  STAR 

crawled  forward  on  hands  and  knees,  made  a  salaam,  and 
then  received  one  drawing  after  another  from  the  hands  of 
the  prince  and  passed  them  to  me.  When  he  had  shown 
me  the  last  he  crawled  back  to  his  position  behind  the 
table  at  a  sign  from  his  uncle.  This  servile  scene  annoyed 
me,  and  I  told  my  escort  that  I  wished  to  go,  so  we  took 
our  leave. 

I  can  only  say  that  I  considered  the  prince's  whole 
behaviour  very  stupid,  very  arrogant,  and  very  frivolous, 
and  I  had  no  desire  ever  to  meet  with  such  a  silly  specimen 
of  royalty  again. 

As  the  prince  had  told  me,  he  had  learnt  in  European 
courts  to  treat  women  of  his  own  blood  as  women,  and  not 
as  slaves.  But  to  condemn  the  whole  system  of  slavery, 
and  to  treat  his  inferiors  and  servants  as  men,  the  Prince 
of  Raden  Salen  had  not  learnt  in  European  courts.  Slav- 
ery still  exists  among  us,  and  we  ourselves  are  still  beneath 
the  yoke  of  blindly  despotic  and  foolishly  servile  subjec- 
tion. Wherever  there  is  a  despotic  court,  there  also  is  a 
blind  fanatical  veneration  of  human  gods,  there  also  are 
cringing  slaves,  and  in  such  a  school  the  Javanese  prince, 
Raden  Salen,  had  been  trained  in  despotic  Germany. 

I  heard  so  many  fine  descriptions  of  the  beauty  of  the 
grand  Preanger  districts  in  the  island  of  Java,  that  I  could 
not  refrain  from  gratifying  my  inward  longing  to  pay 
them  a  visit.  I  was  not  far  from  the  volcano  Gedeh,  and 
I  had  not  before  been  close  to  a  burning  mountain.  The 
way  to  the  volcano  Gedeh  led  through  one  of  the  finest 
primeval  forests  of  the  tropics,  and  1  had  never  yet  strolled 
through  a  primeval  forest.  I  could  therefore  kill  not  only 
two  but  three  birds  with  one  stone,  and  would  see  in  one 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  a 

tour  the  beautiful  Preanger  district,  with  its  golden  plains 
and  romantic  hills  and  mountains,  the  wild  primeval  for- 
est, and  the  volcano  Gredeh,  9500  feet  high. 

Dr.  Scheffer  and  his  wife,  both  enthusiastic  lovers  of 
nature,  were  very  anxious  that  I  should  see  this  magnificent 
mountain  district,  the  finest  part  of  which  lies  between 
Buitenzorg,  Sindang-laya  and  Bandong.  A  friend  of 
Dr.  Scheffer,  Dr.  Bloem  of  Sindang-laya,  a  celebrated 
naturalist,  was  then  in  Buitenzorg,  and  was  about  to 
return  to  Sindang-laya,  where  he  had  founded  a  water- 
cure  establishment. 

My  noble  host  recommended  me  to  the  protection  of  his 
friend,  who  promised  to  take  the  greatest  care  of  me 
and  escorted  me  to  Sindang-laya.  Resident  Hogeveen 
had  already  recommended  me  to  all  the  Dutch  authorities 
of  the  Preanger  districts,  so  that  I  was  certain  of  being 
protected. 

The  horses  of  Java  are  usually  small  and  often  obstinate 
animals,  not  easy  of  control.  The  reader  would  have 
laughed  at  the  sight  of  the  team  which  was  to  take  me, 
Dr.  Bloem  and  the  coachman  to  Sindang-laya.  There 
were  three  of  us,  and  we  had  a  little  open  carriage.  Before 
this  light  carriage  there  were  three  teams  of  horses  and 
one  team  of  buffaloes.  Between  Buitenzorg  and  Sindang- 
laya  there  is  a  beautiful  mountain,  the  Megamendong,  4500 
feet  high.  Its  highest  point  is  the  limit  of  the  Residency 
of  Buitenzorg  on  the  one  side  and  of  the  Preanger  districts 
on  the  other. 

We  pressed  on  rapidly  to  the  foot  of  the  Megamendong, 
but  when  the  animals  saw  the  mountain,  they  all  became 
refractory.  If  the  buffaloes  went  on  the  horses  stood  still, 


6  THE  NORTH  STAR 

if  the  horses  went  on  the  buffaloes  stopped.  We  got  out 
of  the  carriage  and  all  the  animals  went  on,  but  when  we 
got  in  again  they  all  stood  still.  The  doctor  and  three 
drivers  had  shouted  themselves  hoarse  and  were  exhausted. 
"We  had  now  no  choice  but  to  climb  the  mountain  on  foot, 
and  the  heat  was  very  oppressive. 

The  natives  of  Java,  as  I  had  heard  and  now  expe- 
rienced myself,  are  very  good-natured,  but  at  the  same 
tune  obstinate,  indolent,  and  slow. 

"  I  hope,"  said  Dr.  Bloem,  "  that  the  drivers  of  the 
animals  will  not  turn  refractory; "but unfortunately  they 
had  become  refractory.  Before  we  got  to  the  top  of  the 
hill  the  three  drivers  sat  down  by  the  roadside.  «A11  the 
animals  stood  still.  Dr.  Bloem  could  not  manage  the 
horses  and  buffaloes  single-handed,  and  the  animals  were 
determined  to  go  no  further.  There  was  now  no  one  to 
draw  the  little  carriage.  In  this  obstinate  perplexity  I 
was  anxious  to  prove  my  goodwill  and  make  myself  use- 
ful. The  little  carriage  had  only  two  wheels,  and 
I  proposed  to  Dr.  Bloem  that  I  should  roll  one 
wheel  to  Sindang-laya  and  he  the  other,  and  that  a 
portion  of  the  rest  of  the  carriage  should  be  assigned  to 
each  of  the  three  drivers ;  but  everybody  except  the  doctor 
and  myself  was  obstinate ;  my  goodwill  could  accomplish 
no  satisfactory  result,  and  my  proposal  was  not  carried  out. 

Dr.  Bloem  unharnessed  the  horses  and  buffaloes ;  the 
animals  set  off  at  a  brisk  gallop  for  their  stables  in 
Sindang-laya,  where  they  arrived  some  horn's  before  we 
did.  The  little  chaise  was  left  standing  by  the  side  of 
the  road  near  the  top  of  the  Megamendong.  Dr.  B.  had 
it  brought  to  Sindang-laya  the  next  day  by  some  other 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  7 

buffaloes  which  had  not  worked  for  the  last  few  days,  and 
had  refrained  from  giving  way  to  laziness  and  obstinacy 
on  the  last  occasion.  The  three  drivers  rested  as  long  as 
they  chose,  and  I  do  not  know  when  they  got  home. 

On  this  occasion  Dr.  Bloem  and  I  had  to  walk  ten 
miles,  but  the  rare  beauty  of  this  wonderful  neighbour- 
hood long  kept  up  my  courage  as  we  tramped  along  on 
foot. 

The  Megamendong  is  covered  from  the  foot  to  the 
summit  with  a  magnificent  primeval  forest ;  the  road 
winds  amongst  the  most  stately  trees  and  the  wildest 
jungle ;  an  evergreen  veil  is  spread  over  the  luxuriant 
verdure  of  the  tropics  by  the  moisture  of  the  gurgling 
mountain  brooks  murmuring  their  joyous  song.  I  heard 
the  voices  of  many  such  charming  little  streams,  but  I 
could  not  see  them. 

All  around  the  horizon  was  shut  in  by  the  green-clad 
summits  of  mighty  mountains. 

I  had  hardly  made  out  the  grand  ^heads  of  the  Panger- 
ango  and  his  brother  Gedeh,  before  they  veiled  themselves 
in  a  thick  mist.  And  now  I  witnessed  such  a  panorama 
as  can  only  be  seen  from  the  summit  of  the  Megamen- 
dong, on  the  divine  island  of  Java,  a  scene  more  beautiful 
than  any  I  have  witnessed  on  earth. 

No  sooner  had  the  Pangerango  and  the  Gedeh  assumed 
their  caps  of  mist,  than  the  orb  of  day,  as  it  went  down  in 
the  west,  flung  its  golden  rays  upon  the  shrouded  heads  of 
the  two  mountains.  To  my  unbounded  delight,  I  now 
saw  the  thick  white  masses  of  mist,  in  which  both  moun- 
tains were  enveloped,  suddenly  converted  into  a  glowing 
red,  fiery  veil.  Reader,  I  assure  you  it  was  a  heavenly  sun- 


8  THE  NORTH  STAR 

set;  it  seemed  to  me  like  a  reflection  of  the  Divinity. 
The  glowing  vapour  which  girdled  the  two  mighty  moun- 
tains was  the  most  magnificent  image  in  creation  —  it  was 
indescribable.  It  seemed  to  me  as  if  I  must  be  able  to 
see  the  throne  of  God  through  the  fiery  golden  mass,  and 
several  times  I  was  tempted  to  fall  on  my  knees  and  pray. 

"Am  I  not,"  I  said  to  my  companion,  "  the  most  happy 
of  mortals,  to  be  able  to  see  the  wonderful  tropics,  and  this 
divine  sunset  ? " 

At  the  top  of  the  Megamendong,  a  short  distance  from 
the  road,  there  is  a  beautiful  lake  of  clear  fresh  water, 
of  considerable  depth.  A  few  years  before,  on  the  fall  of 
a  wall  of  rock,  several  trees,  of  from  two  to  three  hundred 
feet  high,  slid  into  this  lake  and  disappeared  in  its  depths, 
leaving  no  trace  behind  them. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  a  wanderer  sitting  still  near 
this  lonely  lake  may  catch  sight  of  some  rhinoceros  or 
tiger  which  lives  by  this  fresh,  sweet  spring. 

This  romantic  lake  is  fifty-nine  miles  from  Batavia,  and 
from  it  we  had  three  miles  farther  to  go  to  get  to  Sindang- 
laya.  I  was  not  much  accustomed  to  walking,  for  this 
was  my  first  long  tour  on  foot  in  the  East.  I  had  already 
gone  many  miles  ;  my  feet  were  bruised,  and  hurt  me  at 
every  step.  Moreover,  being  under  the  impression  that 
we  should  be  home  about  noon,  we  had  taken  no  provisions 
with  us,  except  some  bread  and  butter.  It  was  already 
night,  and  Dr.  Bloem  and  I  had  divided  the  bread  and 
butter  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  our  appetites 
had  reached  their  keenest  point.  Dr.  B.  now  expressed 
the  sympathy  for  me  he  had  so  long  concealed,  and  said  he 
very  much  regretted  that  we  had  such  obstinate  horses  and 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  9 

buffaloes,  sucli  lazy  and  refractory  servants,  and  that  we 
had  nothing  to  eat,  and  confessed  to  being  quite  worn 
out  himself.  One  of  the  servants  had  been  sent  in  advance 
by  his  master  to  fetch  a  sedan  for  me,  but  the  moon  had 
now  risen  high  and  no  conveyance  had  yet  appeared. 

At  last  we  reached  the  last  village;  my  feet  were 
bleeding,  and  I  could  walk  no  further.  I  sat  down  on  the 
trunk  of  a  tree  close  at  hand.  Dr.  B.  called  a  native 
woman  from  the  nearest  house,  and  she  brought  me  some 
boiled  rice.  Half  an  hour  later  the  sedan  and  two  bearers 
arrived,  and  in  another  half-hour  the  bearers  set  me  down 
in  front  of  the  residence  of  Dr.  B.,  in  Sindang-laya. 
Sindang-laya  is  a  pretty  spot  which  lies  3500  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea.  Its  pretty  name  means  resting,  or 
lying  down,  in  English,  and  was  extremely  appropriate  to 
my  weariness. 

Dr.  B.'s  niece  at  once  gave  me  a  good  supper,  and  got  a 
comfortable  room  ready  for  me. 

To  my  delight,  I  heard  the  same  evening  that  the  four 
American  gentlemen  who  had  travelled  with  me  from 
Singapore  to  Batavia  were  guests  in  the  house. 

Dr.  B.  advised  me  not  to  climb  the  volcano  "  Gedeh." 
He  told  me  it  was  far  too  irksome  a  journey  for  ladies,  and 
he  assured  me  jokingly  that  if  I  went  I  should  certainly 
come  back  ill. 

"  If  I  only  get  up  there  in  health,"  I  replied, "  and  see 
the  volcano  Gedeh,  and  look  from  there  at  the  divine 
landscape  of  the  golden  Preanger,  I  shall  be  content,  and 
will  readily  be  a  little  unwell  when  I  come  back." 

After  many  entreaties,  Dr.  B.  yielded  to  my  wishes,  and 
made  arrangements  for  a  trip  to  the  mountain. 


10  THE  NORTH  STAR 

Dr.  Scheffer,  of  Buitenzorg,  had  requested  the  head- 
gardener  at  Tipannas,  the  country-seat  of  the  Governor 
of  Java,  to  accompany  me,  and  the  latter,  a  very  obliging 
Dutchman,  sent  everything  necessary  for  my  comfort,  in 
case  of  bad  weather,  to  the  mountain  beforehand,  under 
the  care  of  quite  a  little  band  of  natives.  I  was  told  that 
near  the  volcano  there  was  a  rhinoceros  stable,  where  one 
could  spend  a  night  if  necessary.  This  prospect  was 
neither  elegant  nor  agreeable. 

The  head-gardener,  however,  had  received  orders  from 
the  directors  to  take  good  care  of  me,  and,  with  the  help 
of  his  housekeeper,  he  did  all  he  could  to  fulfil  their 
wishes.  Dr.  Bloem  lent  me  his  best  horse,  on  which  I 
felt  as  proud  as  comfortable ;  and  early  in  the  morning,  a 
nice  little  caravan  struck  across  Tipannas  on  the  way  to 
the  volcano  Gedeh. 

The  weather  as  we  rode  away  was  wonderfully  beauti- 
ful, and  the  Gedeh  glittered  clear  and  bright  in  the 
lovely  morning  sunbeams.  We  had  a  faint  hope  of 
getting  back  the  same  day,  but  it  was  not  to  be  so.  I  was 
to  pay  dearly  for  my  curiosity  to  see  a  primeval  forest 
and  a  volcano. 

The  Gedeh  rose  9500  feet  above  us ;  the  road  was 
often  very  rough,  and  we  had  not  seldom  to  climb  a 
perpendicular  ascent.  The  distance  there  and  back  was 
twenty  miles,  which  were  almost  entirely  covered  by  a 
dense  primeval  forest,  through  which,  in  many  places, 
there  was  no  path,  so  that  a  passage  had  to  be  cut  with 
axes  and  hatchets.  But  my  little  horse  was  good  and  brave ; 
his  feet  never  stumbled,  and  he  carried  me  safely  over  the 
most  dangerous  places  and  up  the  steepest  declivities. 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.'  11 

The  wild  scenery  we  passed  through  in  the  primeval 
forest  was  singularly  beautiful ;  I  was  soon  in  a  state  of 
the  greatest  enthusiasm.  I  caressed  my  horse  in  the  ten- 
derest  manner,  for  it  manifested  the  greatest  patience  and 
caution,  and  advanced  from  one  wildly  beautiful  spot  to 
another,  straining  every  nerve  in  its  body.  How  truly 
romantic,  how  wild  was  the  beauty  on  every  side ! 

Here  we  passed  countless  mighty  trees,  proud  fore- 
fathers, which  had  multiplied  themselves  in  tens  and 
hundreds  of  descendants,  and  again  and  again  a  fresh 
access  of  delight  and  surprise  came  over  me  at  the  sight  of 
some  new  group  of  giant  children  of  the  primeval  world. 
How  often  did  I  stand  before  some  dense  impenetrable 
labyrinth  of  interlacing  plants,  woven  and  intermingled 
with  the  most  artistic  taste  by  mother  Nature,  and  that  in 
a  manner  so  masterly,  so  inimitable,  that  not  one  eye  in  a 
thousand  could  discern  how  her  work  was  done. 

Nature,  Nature!  what  a  wonderful  and  mysterious 
goddess  art  thou!  I  am  wandering  in  a  world  full  of 
poetry !  Would  that  I  could  express  all  that  I  felt  on  this 
trip  in  the  sweet  language  of  a  poetess  ;  that  I  could  seize 
and  perpetuate  in  everlasting  verses  all  that  I  read  in  one 
primeval  forefather  and  his  offspring  —  all  that  here  bud 
and  sprout,  in  one  beautiful  thicket !  One  giant  of 
this  forest  contains  more  poetry  than  a  Schiller  or 
a  Goethe  ever  produced.  In  every  tree,  in  every  thicket, 
hangs  a  book.  I  read  myself  confused !  These  rich  and 
prosperous  family  groups,  these  mighty  giants  with 
breast  and  brow  proudly  hung  with  tastefully  festooned 
chains  and  garlands,  grandsires,  parents  to  the  third 
and  fourth  generation,  alike  wear  their  majestic  crowns 


12  THE  NORTH  STAR 

with  calm  and  stately  dignity.  These  diadems  of  nature, 
they  bloom  for  ever  and  never  fade,  they  descend  from 
race  to  race,  from  century  to  century. 

Never  before  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  had  I  seen  so 
fertile  and  profuse  a  ramification  of  pith,  and  sap,  and 
branch.  A  grandsire  here  sees  his  descendants  to  — what 
generation  ?  But  such  exuberant  fertility  is  peculiar  only 
to  the  tropics  No  European  soil  brings  forth  and  buda 
as  does  this. 

Moss  and  flowers  adorn  these  giant  trees  to  the  very 
topmost  branch,  and  the  carpet  at  their  feet  from  which 
they  spring  is  luxuriantly  rich  and  ever  green.  Truly 
creation  may  well  be  proud  of  this  primeval  forest ! 

There  is  scarcely  an  incli  of  ground  where  some  little 
gem  does  not  sprout  forth,  or  where  some  little  plant 
does  not  live  and  struggle  upwards.  One,  bold,  and  with 
athletic  force,  climbs  up  to  the  very  crown  of  its  grand- 
sire  ;  the  youth  is  soon  on  a  level  with  the  old  forefather. 
Another  bears  its  buds  and  fruits  in  seclusion,  lives  and 
mates  with  rugged  thorns,  and  remains  modestly  hidden 
in  the  thicket,  for  ever  sighing,  unnoticed  and  unknown 
in  the  wild  coppice.  Often  a  narrow  and  dangerous  plank 
led  us  across  a  partly  hidden  and  wildly-foaming  brook, 
above  which  a  thick  green  roof  was  formed  by  a  luxuriant 
vegetation  concealing  the  source  of  the  brawling  stream. 
Often,  too,  in  the  midst  of  some  impenetrable  thicket,  a 
gentle  murmuring  little  brook  would  wind  along  beneath 
a  triumphal  arch  of  interlacing  boughs,  singing  its  sweet 
song  in  wild  seclusion ;  it  was  all  so  solemn,  so  enchant- 
ing, so  wildly  beautiful !  Sometimes,  up  in  the  air,  far 
above  our  heads,  the  heaviest  trees  had  crossed  and 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  13 

interlaced  their  mighty  boughs  in  a  manner  so  artistic, 
that  my  little  horse  and  I  passed  beneath  a  noble  viaduct 
of  athletic  giants,  upon  whose  firmly  interwoven  arms 
and  shoulders  rested  two  or  three,  and  often  more,  young 
sons  of  the  forest.  Sometimes,  too,  one  of  these  daring 
athletes  had  broken  his  neck,  and  the  rigid  giant  lay  cold 
and  dead  upon  the  stage  of  his  former  triumphs. 

Many  a  veteran  of  the  forest  bowed  his  weary  head 
over  the  cool  stream  of  some  brook,  as  if  he  would  fain 
once  more  inhale  young  life  from  its  eternal  freshness. 
Here  and  there  lay  luxuriant  stems  torn  up  by  the  roots 
in  the  prime  of  life.  Boreas,  with  his  cruel,  deadly  axe, 
had  cut  down  these  proud  giants ;  but  it  was  wonderful 
to  see  how  much  life  was  begotten  by  the  veterans 
which  had  fallen  beneath  the  fury  of  a  storm,  or  from  old 
age.  From  the  thick  moss,  encasing  the  bark  of  some 
one  of  them,  lying  headlong  across  the  ground,  or  across 
some  brook,  a  little  tree  would  start  up  with  true 
tropical  celerity ;  so  that  another  giant  soon  stands  on 
the  breast  of  the  one  that  is  dead ;  the  young  sapling  will 
avenge  the  fall  of  the  grandsire  —  he  struggles  and  climbs 
till  he  is  as  tall  as  any  monarch  of  the  forest.  In  many 
places  our  path  was  so  overgrown  and  impenetrable,  that 
the  servants  had  the  greatest  difficulty  to  thin  the  bushes 
with  axe  and  hatchet,  and  cut  a  passage  before  us.  Often, 
too,  we  had  to  construct  little  bridges  of  boughs  or  stones 
across  foaming  torrents.  Several  times,  when  we  came  to 
steep  and  awful  ravines,  I  dismounted  from  my  faithful 
steed,  and  a  servant  led  the  good  creature  along  the 
narrow  edge  of  the  precipitous  mountain-wall.  The 
ascent  was  often  so  perpendicular,  that  the  greatest  energy 


14  THE  NORTH  STAR 

and  caution  were  required  to  prevent  me  from  falling  off 
my  horse  backwards. 

The  most  beautiful  and  awful  passage  was  above  a 
mighty  cataract  which  dashed  down  at  our  feet  into  a 
deep  black  ravine  in  a  perpendicular  waterfall. 

From  this  spot  the  photographers  of  the  Novara  ex- 
pedition had  a  short  time  previously  taken  a  view  of  this 
wild  and  stupendous  waterfall. 

At  another  spot  my  horse  stamped  its  way  through  the 
steaming  foam  of  a  hot  mountain  stream,  the  source  of 
which,  my  companion  told  me,  was  the  sulphur  crater  of 
Gedeh. 

Could  I  help  being  happy  and  excited  in  a  scene  so 
novel  to  me,  and  of  such  surpassing  beauty  and  wildness  ? 
Indescribably  wild  and  indescribably  beautiful !  All  that 
I  can  say  of  my  tour  through  this  primeval  forest,  is,  after 
all,  but  a  poor  description  of  the  truth. 

Now  and  then  some  lovely  songster  concealed  in  the 
forest  gave  us  a  beautiful  serenade.  Euterpe  Philomela 
followed  us  to  the  very  crater.  I  should  so  much  have 
liked  to  see  the  dear  bird,  but  the  little  singer  flew  away 
through  the  thick  bushes  and  over  the  lofty  tree-tops  where 
my  eyes  could  not  follow  him.  I  heard  him  for  hours, 
but  never  caught  sight  of  him.  I  applauded  him,  however, 
in  the  gladness  of  my  heart.  "  A  thousand  thanks,  dear 
singer,"  I  shouted  into  the  deep  forest,  and  Euterpe 
Philomela  sang  and  trilled  " encore" 

We  had  already  ascended  to  a  great  height  on  the 
mountain,  and  were  near  the  celebrated  rhinoceros  stable, 
when,  alas !  the  sky  suddenly  became  overcast  and  it  began 
to  thunder  and  to  lighten.  A  heavy  rain  soon  drenched  us 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  15 

through  and  through,  and  we  rode  into  the  rhinoceros 
stable  as  quickly  as  we  could. 

It  was  now  impossible  to  reach  the  top  of  the  crater  on 
this  day.  After  the  heavy  storm  (and  it  rained  here  in 
true  tropical  style),  it  was  not  advisable  to  venture  amongst 
the  thick  wet  bushes  and  jungle.  The  native  servants, 
therefore,  constructed  a  roof  of  boughs  and  branches,  lit 
a  large  fire  beneath  it,  and  prepared  a  good  dinner. 

We  no  longer  felt  the  intense  sultriness  of  the  valley. 
In  spite  of  the  thunder-storm  it  was  quite  raw  and  cold 
up  here,  and  the  warmth  of  the  fire  did  us  good.  The 
rhinoceros  stable  was  not  too  comfortable ;  the  thick 
smoke  from  the  wet  wood  penetrated  into  the  hut,  per- 
forated as  it  was  with  holes,  and  our  stay  in  it  was  by  no 
means  enviable. 

The  natives  went  on  cooking  the  whole  night  through, 
now  rice,  now  potatoes  or  tea.  They  kept  up  an  enormous 
fire  all  the  time,  which,  as  they  said,  would  keep  away 
wild  beasts. 

The  wall  of  the  rhinoceros  stable  was  very  much 
decayed,  and  had  been  mended  with  green  boughs.  I 
curled  myself  upon  a  mattress  for  some  hours  My 
horse  slept  quite  near  to  me ;  it  bit  through  the  leaves  of 
the  boughs  and  sniffed  about  my  face.  The  too-faithful 
creature  caressed  me  so  much  that  at  last  I  lost  patience ; 
so  I  got  up  and  went  and  joined  the  native  men  and 
women.  Dr.  Bloem  had  given  one  of  the  servants  a  heavy 
Capuchin  cloak  for  me,  with  a  long  cowl,  in  case  of  bad 
weather.  It  was  very  cold,  so  I  wrapped  myself  in  the 
cloak  and  made  myself  some  coffee. 

At  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  sky  had  cleared,  but 


16  THE  NORTH  STAR 

we  had  hardly  mounted  our  horses  before  a  thick  fog  came 
on.  It  was  evidently  a  long  time  since  any  one  had  been 
up  the  crater,  for  there  was  no  path  leading  to  it.  Every- 
where the  ground  was  densely  overgrown,  and  the  servants 
hewed  down  hundreds  of  young  trees  and  bushes.  We 
were  obliged  to  leave  the  horses  behind,  for  there  was 
no  passage  for  the  poor  creatures.  With  almost  super- 
human efforts  and  endurance  we  at  last  made  our  way 
through  the  thick  wet  wood  to  the  foot  of  the  volcano, 
and  from  there  over  a  perpendicular  mountain-wall  to  the 
open  crater  on  the  summit  of  the  Gedeh.  The  sides  of 
the  crater  itself  were  covered  with  very  slippery  masses  of 
sulphur  and  ashes.  I  often  sank  in  them  up  to  my  knees, 
and  my  long  riding-habit  became  heavier  and  heavier. 
Some  places  were  so  difficult  to  climb  that  it  took  several 
minutes  to  find  firm  footing.  I  felt  quite  exhausted  and 
could  hardly  breathe.  The  good  Dutchman  and  a  servant 
were  a  step  before  me  all  the  way,  and,  holding  me  firmly 
by  the  hand,  they  dragged  me  up  after  them. 

But  the  slippery  wall  of  the  crater  was  very  lofty,  and 
we  were  obliged  to  rest  several  times.  It  was  very  cold ; 
the  servants  had  brought  a  spirit-lamp  with  them,  and 
every  now  and  then  we  drank  some  hot  coffee.  But  even 
the  resting  and  coffee  drinking  were  extremely  difficult 
operations,  for  the  north  wind  would  scarcely  let  us  keep 
our  position  on  the  damp  ground.  Besmeared  as  I  was 
with  sulphur  and  ashes,  I  was  about  as  beautiful  as  a 
Cinderella.  After  such  hardships,  we  certainly  deserved 
that  the  Gedeh  should  receive  us  well  and  give  us  the 
finest  view  it  had  to  offer. 

But  that  it  did  not  choose  to  do,  for  we  had   hardly 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  17 

gained  its  summit,  panting  for  breath,  when  there  and 
then, 

"  The  Gedeh  veils  his  face  in  cloud, 

And  draws  his  vapoury  mantle  on  : 
Mortal,  away  1  —  a  misty  shroud 
Now  reigns  where  late  the  glory  shone." 

A  strong  wind  arose,  and  my  companion's  hat  flew  away 
into  the  crater  and  disappeared  in  the  vortex  of  the 
boiling  water.  The  basin  of  this  crater  is  very  deep,  and 
the  sides  were  very  soft  and  slippery,  so  we  did  not  dare 
venture  too  near.  A  few  days  previously  there  had  been 
an  eruption,  during  which,  as  my  companion  told  me,  a 
strong  shock  of  earthquake  had  been  felt  in  all  the  neigh- 
bouring districts.  The  southern  side  of  the  crater  had 
fallen  in,  and  for  a  considerable  distance  everything  was 
covered  with  fresh  ashes.  We  were  standing  9600  feet 
above  the  sea-level.  The  volcano  Gedeh  has  one  large 
and  several  small  craters  and  sulphur  vents.  The  most 
recent  eruption  of  lava  took  place  in  1848  on  the 
eastern  side,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  forest  was  burnt. 
In  1866  the  volcano  emitted  quantities  of  ashes  for 
several  days  in  succession,  but  there  was  no  eruption  of 
lava. 

Opposite  to  us  rose  the  brother  mountain  Pangerango, 
10,000  feet  high,  which,  for  the  moment,  we  saw  but  dimly. 
It  retains  fragments  of  an  extinct  volcano,  and  towers 
above  all  the  neighbouring  mountains.  From  its  summit 
an  extensive  view  is  obtainable  on  a  fine  day,  embracing 
half  the  island  of  Java  and  a  vast  extent  of  the  ocean. 

The  flora  of  the  upper  regions  of  the  Gedeh  and 
Pangerango  resembles  that  of  Europe ;  lower  down  there 
VOL.  n.  2 


18  THE  NORTH  STAR 

are  many  Lotocarpus  and  beautiful  Liquidambar,  Kima- 
rah  and  Rasamala.  Not  far  from  the  summit  of  the 
mountain,  I  saw  many  ferns  called  Padoc-Ridang*  the 
coarse  reddish  hair  on  the  lower  stems  of  which  is  a  very 
useful  styptic  (blood  stancher),  and  is  exported  to  Europe 
for  that  purpose.  I  took  several  stems  of  it  away  with  me. 
I  also  met  with  some  beautiful  roses  resembling  the 
Alpine  roses  of  Europe.  The  botanical  name  of  this 
flower  is  Rhododendron  Javanicum. 

Amongst  other  plants  native  to  the  upper  regions  of 
the  mountain  there  is  a  large  variety  of  Primula,  first 
discovered  by  Dr.  Junghuhn,  and  which  is  named  in  his 
honour,  Primula  Junghuhniana. 

The  fauna  of  the  primeval  forest  and  mountain  of 
Gedeh  includes  the  rhinoceros,  the  royal  tiger,  and  the 
panther;  the  roe,  the  stag,  and  four  kinds  of  monkey, 
the  musk  cat,  the  polecat,  &c. 

On  our  way  home  we  found  a  dead  polecat ;  the  smell 
was  horrible,  and  annoyed  us  for  some  distance. 

I  was  firmly  resolved  not  to  leave  the  Gedeh  until  I  had 
enjoyed  a  look  at  the  golden  landscape  of  the  Preanger. 
It  was  intensely  cold,  and  I  was  shivering  and  freezing, 
whilst  waiting  for  the  ungallant,  capricious  Gedeh  to 
take  off  his  cap.  Presently,  however,  the  sun  succeeded 
in  mollifying  his  ill-humour  and  in  dispersing  the  mist, 
though  only  for  a  few  minutes,  for  it  soon  returned  and 
settled  about  the  lofty  sides  of  the  crater. 

We  were  now  standing  in  a  dazzling  light,  and  one 
glance  at  the  panorama,  far  and  near  (a  very  brief  one, 
though),  richly  rewarded  me  for  all  hardships.  It  was  a 
Btrange  and  beautiful  sight  of  a  varied  character.  Our 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  19 

own  five  grotesque-looking  figures,  standing  in  the  full 
glare  of  the  sunbeams  upon  the  summit  of  a  crater  9600 
feet  high,  round  about  us  a  silvery  white  mist,  and,  at  the 
foot  of  the  volcano,  the  green  primeval  forest ;  in  the 
valley  below,  a  heavy  rain,  and,  in  the  far  distance,  bathed 
in  a  transparent  atmosphere,  a  perfect  sea  of  glorious 
fields  and  mountains.  I  saw  the  Megamendong  and 
Sindang-laya,  and  looked  into  the  very  heart  of  the  golden 
Preanger.  A  few  transient  glances  over  this  charming 
picture  —  I  still  gaze  —  I  still  see  —  I  scarcely  dare  to 
breathe  —  it  is  too  exalted — too  grand !  But — but — the 
wicked  Gedeh  is  grasping  at  his  cap  —  a  few  invaluable 
seconds  more — the  curtain  falls  —  we  are  again  stand- 
ing in  dense  mist —  alas — alas — yet  thank  God!  thank 
God  !  for  having  let  me  enjoy  for  a  few  moments  the 
greatest  pleasure  possible  in  this  beautiful  world  to  a 
lover  of  nature. 

The  descent  of  the  wall  of  the  crater  was  extremely 
arduous ;  we  slipped  at  every  step,  filling  our  pockets 
with  sulphur  and  pieces  of  saltpetre.  When  at  last  we 
had  made  our  way  down  many  a  slippery  path,  and  had 
returned  through  the  damp  jungle  to  the  rhinoceros 
stable,  I  no  longer  resembled  a  civilised  creature.  My 
long  besmeared  riding-habit  was  alike  the  most  comical  and 
most  interesting  object  in  the  variegated  scene  in  the 
narrow  stall.  The  whole  party  of  natives  burst  into  a  hearty 
roar  of  laughter,  and  neither  the  good  Dutchman  nor 
I  myself  could  help  joining  in.  My  long  hair  had  got 
loose  in  coming  through  the  jungle,  and  hung  down  over 
my  wet  shoulders,  and  I  had  lost  my  comb  on  the  side  of 
the  crater.  My  hat  and  veil  were  torn.  I  twisted  mv 


20  THE  NORTH  STAR 

hair  together  as  best  I  could.  The  Dutchman  lent  me 
his  broad-brimmed  inountain-hat,  and  I  put  on  the  heavy 
Capuchin  cloak  over  my  riding-habit.  In  this  charming 
costume  I  mounted  my  horse,  and  we  set  off  on  our  return 
home.  It  thundered  and  lightened,  and  the  rain  came 
down  in  torrents.  It  is  more  dangerous  to  ride  down  a 
steep  mountain  than  to  climb  up  one.  It  was  really  very 
hard  work.  Many  of  the  brooks  had  become  so  swollen 
since  the  previous  day,  that  we  had  to  construct  new 
bridges  and  foot-planks,  and  all  this  in  a  violent  downpour 
of  rain.  And  to-day  Euterpe  Philomela  did  not  sing,  but 
now  and  then  the  deep  voice  of  some  wild  animal  rang 
through  the  forest. 

Copious  streams  of  water  poured  down  my  mountain 
hat,  my  Capuchin  cloak  and  my  poor  dear  little  horse. 
Beneath  my  heavy  thick  monk's  cowl,  I  was  as  wet  through 
as  if  I  were  standing  out  of  my  depth  in  water. 

I  pitied  my  faithful,  patient  animal.  I  dismounted,  a 
servant  led  the  horse,  and  I  found  my  way  as  best  I  could. 

Presently  we  came  to  the  hot  stream  already  men- 
tioned ;  I  went  right  through  it,  remained  standing  for  a 
little  time  in  the  steam-bath  and  warmed  my  cold  feet. 
The  most  wonderful  thing  about  this  wild  spot  is  that  the 
hot  stream  of  water  flows  over  the  most  beautiful  green 
grass  and  jungle,  and  flings  itself  into  an  awfully  deep 
ravine,  the  vapours  re-ascending  from  its  depths  to  the 
source  of  the  stream,  forming,  so  to  speak,  an  eternal 
"  vale  of  hot  steam,"  which  provides  the  passer-by  with 
a  natural  vapour  bath,  the  effect  of  which  is  all  the  more 
rapid  if  he  gazes  down  for  a  few  seconds  into  the  fearful 
depths  of  the  ravine. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  21 

It  was  indeed  a  good  thing  that  I  had  enjoyed  the  full 
beauty  of  the  primeval  forest  the  day  previously,  for  now 
all  was  changed,  and  I  had  enough  to  do  to  think  of 
myself.  I  had  to  prove  and  sound  every  step,  and  I  could 
not  once  glance  upwards. 

Thus  we  waded  for  five  hours  beneath,  as  it  seemed  to 
me,  the  heaviest  rain  which  had  ever  fallen.  At  last,  when 
the  water  in  my  shoes  and  stockings  became  too  uncom- 
fortable to  be  borne  any  longer,  I  took  off  my  heavy  foot- 
coverings  and  went  barefooted  through  jungle,  mud, 
and  stream.  This  was  the  first  time  in  niy  life  that  I 
had  walked  without  shoes  or  stockings,  and  I  comforted 
myself  with  the  thought  that  my  dear  mother  could  not 
see  me. 

When  at  last  we  entered  Sindang-laya,  tired  to  death, 
Dr.  Bloeni  met  us  with  an  almost  paternal  expression, 
and  took  a  long  "doctor-like"  look  at  my  drenched  and 
comical  figure. 

"  Did  I  not  tell  you,"  he  said,  half  reproachfully,  "  that 
you  would  come  back  ill  ?  You  look  as  pale  as  death,  and 
I  shall  send  you  to  my  water  cure  immediately." 

"Doctor,"  I  replied,  "I  have  seen  the  primeval  forest, 
I  have  seen  the  volcano  Gedeh  and  the  whole  landscape 
of  the  golden  Preanger,  and  I  am  content." 

The  doctor's  niece  at  once  helped  me  to  undress,  and 
soon  had  a  good  meal  ready  for  me. 

As  soon  as  the  doctor  thought  I  had  digested  my 
dinner,  he  had  me  carried  to  his  hot  mineral  bath  at 
Tibodas  in  a  sedan.  I  was  ordered  to  sit  in  the  hot  bath 
a  good  hour  to  cure  my  cold.  I  sneezed  incessantly,  and 
my  voice  was  quite  hoarse. 


22  THE  NORTH  STAR 

In  spite  of  the  bath,  however,  the  doctor's  prophecy 
was  only  too  truly  fulfilled.  I  was  ill ;  the  trip  to  the 
Gedeh  had  been  too  much  for  me  to  endure  without  evil 
consequences. 

The  long  and  difficult  ascent  and  descent,  the  intense 
cold  in  the  rhinoceros  stable  and  on  the  summit  of  the 
mountain,  which  I  had  had  to  endure  in  garments  wet 
through  and  through,  and  the  five  hours'  baptism  iii 
pouring  rain,  were  more  than  I  could  bear,  unaccustomed 
as  I  was  to  such  hardships.  I  was  wrong,  too,  to  bathe  my 
feet  in  hot  water,  and  then  to  walk  barefoot  through  cold. 
Never  in  my  life  had  so  much  rain  poured  down  my 
shoulders  as  in  Java  on  the  journey  from  the  summit  of 
the  Gedeh  to  Sindang-laya. 

I  had  quite  lost  my  appetite,  but  I  did  not  wish  to 
betray  the  loss  before  any  one,  especially  not  before  the 
doctor.  I  therefore  did  all  I  could  to  appear  well  and 
bright.  The  second  evening  after  my  dreadful  trip, 
when  the  good  doctor  thought  I  was  pretty  well  re- 
covered, he  wished  to  show  me  a  native  custom,  and 
ordered  the  attendance  of  a  certain  number  of  Javanese 
male  and  female  dancers.  There  were  ten  young  girls 
and  ten  young  men. 

The  musical  instruments  sounded  poor  and  inartistic ; 
their  tone  was  monotonous,  without  variations.  The 
music  had  neither  taste  nor  feeling.  The  dancing  girls 
wore  a  sarang,  with  a  short  body  without  sleeves,  and  a 
long  red  echarpe  over  their  shoulders,  which  occasionally 
served  them  as  a  pocket-handkerchief. 

The  dancers  did  not  dance  with  their  feet,  but  with 
their  head  and  arms  and  hands,  singing  meanwhile  a 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  28 

low  song  with  a  great  deal  of  repetition.  The  girls  often 
went  to  the  men  and  lit  their  cigars  at  those  of  their 
partners  with  indelicate  pantomimic  gestures.  They 
then  ran  away  into  the  dark,  and  the  men  followed  them. 
Whilst  dancing,  both  parties  twisted  their  heads  about 
in  a  slow  and  comical  manner.  The  whole  affair  was  too 
tasteless,  stupid,  and  monotonous  to  be  looked  at  long 
without  feeling  ennui.  The  dance  took  place  in  the  open 
air  by  torchlight. 

I  had  still  a  longing  desire  to  see  more  of  the  glorious 
landscape  of  the  Preanger.  I  hoped,  too,  that  a  drive 
in  the  free,  bracing  mountain  air  would  do  me  good,  and 
restore  my  appetite.  Dr.  Bloem  had  a  good  carriage  and 
his  best  horses  got  ready,  and  the  head  gardener  of  Tip- 
annas,  who  had  accompanied  me  to  the  Gedeh,  drove 
with  me  to  Tyandjur,  the  official  seat  of  an  inland  Gov- 
ernor and  a  Dutch  assistant  Resident. 

The  road  to  Tyandjur  leads  through  one  of  the  most 
charming  districts  in  the  world.  The  little  town  is 
thirteen  miles  from  Sindang-laya.  It  is  impossible  for 
me  adequately  to  describe  the  luxuriant  vegetation  of 
the  Preanger,  and  the  perfect  and  unequalled  develop- 
ment of  its  natural  scenery.  I  had  already  witnessed 
many  beautiful  scenes  on  the  island  of  Java,  but  what  I 
now  saw  between  Sindang-laya  and  Tyandjur  was  to  me 
a  new,  a  glorious  experience  of  the  splendour  of  the 
tropics. 

Language  fails  me,  dear  reader,  to  bring  before  you,  as 
I  fain  would  do,  the  beauty  of  that  scene,  as  it  is  for  ever 
impressed  upon  my  memory. 

The  beautiful  and  blissful  impression  made  upon  me 


24  TEE  NORTH  STAB 

by  the  luxuriant  vegetation  and  the  glorious  ever-verdant 
mountains  and  heights,  no  description,  either  verbal  or 
written,  can  convey  to  you  in  all  its  truth  and  vivid 
reality.  The  recollection  of  the  tropics  is  one  of  the 
greatest  treasures  of  my  soul,  and  will  form,  until  death, 
a  lasting  portion  of  my  mortal  life. 

Everywhere  we  drove  we  passed  diligent  reapers,  busily 
cutting  and  binding  the  ripe  rice  into  sheaves. 

The  rice  fields  glittered  upon  the  romantic  heights  in 
a  form  resembling  an  amphitheatre.  Wherever  I  turned 
I  saw  reapers  and  binders  of  sheaves,  and  everywhere 
swayed  golden  fields  of  grain. 

This  romantic  height  was  bounded  by  meadows  bright 
with  many-coloured  flowers.  I  here  admired  the  greatest 
variety  of  floral  specimens  I  had  ever  seen.  In  vale  and 
dell  gurgled  streams  and  brooks,  and  the  tops  of  the 
green-clothed  mountains  towered  to  the  very  clouds. 

The  form  and  shape  of  the  fields  and  meadows,  and  of 
the  hills  and  mountains,  are  of  so  artistic  a  variety,  that 
from  the  plain  to  the  mountain  tops,  one  glance  comprises 
a  most  charming  panorama  of  natural  beauty.  The  earth, 
with  its  luxuriant  decorations  and  its  unequalled  collec- 
tion of  flowers,  presented  an  enchanting  and  fascinating 
scene,  such  as  I  never  beheld  in  any  land  of  Europe  and 
in  the  East,  only  in  the  golden  Preanger  district  of  Java. 
Here,  in  one  glance,  I  saw  the  noblest  works  of  the 
Creator;  and  looked  upon  Mother  Earth  under  her  most 
prosperous  conditions. 

Arrived  in  Tyandjur  we  drove  to  the  residence  of  the 
prince  regent,  to  whom  I  was  recommended. 

The  prince  was  in  his  harem,  and  invited  us,  through 


AND    THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  25 

the  superintendent  of  his  household,  to  dinner,  which 
would  be  ready  in  the  course  of  a  couple  of  hours. 

I  had  no  wish  to  remain,  and  I  sent  my  thanks  to  the 
prince.  1  dreaded  a  stiff  ceremonial  and  empty  conversa- 
tion, nor  did  I  want  to  see  any  cringing  slaves,  for  none 
of  these  things  suited  my  taste  or  my  character. 

I  would  gladly  have  waited  two  or  even  more  hours  tc 
see  a  man  of  genius  ;  but  for  an  indolent  prince,  who  was 
in  his  harem ;  for  a  false  god,  who  permits  poor  slaves  to 
crawl  to  him  on  hands  and  knees,  I  would  not  wait,  and 
we  left  his  palace.  I  may  add,  that  in  the  prince's  recep- 
tion-room I  saw  several  of  Paul  de  Kock's  obscene 
pictures,  which  hung  up  uncovered,  the  Javanese  prince 
apparently  not  having  delicacy  enough  to  feel  ashamed  of 
them. 

We  took  a  purely  Dutch  repast  in  a  cheerful  villa,  be- 
longing to  a  friend  of  my  companion ;  towards  evening  we 
drove  back  to  Sindang-laya,  and  I  once  more  enjpyed  the 
beauties  of  the  Preanger. 

It  was  now  the  13th  of  February,  and  on  the  20th  o£ 
the  same  month  I  intended  to  return  to  Singapore.  I 
was  therefore  compelled  to  start,  in  order  to  reach  Batavia 
a  few  days  before  my  embarkation. 

Dr.  Bloem  wished  to  take  me  back  to  Buitenzorg  him- 
self, but  his  niece's  little  daughter  was  dangerously  ill,  and 
he  could  not  leave. 

It  was  the  wish  of  his  friend  Dr.  Scheffer,  of,  Buiten- 
zorg, that  I  should  travel  nowhere  alone,  and  so  the  head 
gardener  escorted  me  back,  and  the  director  paid  him 
many  a  grateful  compliment  for  his  kindness  and  attention 
to  me  in  our  various  excursions.  I  was  very  uneasy  at 


26  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

the  evil  results  of  my  trip  to  the  Gredeh,  and  I  came  back 
to  Buitenzorg  quite  ill.  Mrs.  Scheffer  sent  for  her  doc- 
tor at  once,  and  he  ordered  me  different  medicaments, 
which,  however,  I  did  not  take.  I  hoped  that  the  sea  air 
would  restore  me,  and  I  hurried  back  to  Batavia. 

My  very  kind  friends,  Dr.  Scheffer  and  his  wife,  had 
done  their  best  for  me  during  my  absence,  and  presented 
me  with  a  number  of  most  interesting  things.  I  received 
a  Javanese  village  in  miniature,  an  artistic  representation 
of  the  houses  of  the  rich  and  poor  on  a  small  scale, 
together  with  the  rice  granaries,  rice  warehouses,  and 
the  temple  of  the  village,  built  of  bamboo  wood  and  rice 
straw. 

Dr.  Scheffer  packed  up  a  quantity  of  rare  and  curious 
articles  and  plants  and  fruits  for  me,  including  over  fifty 
sorts  of  the  rarest  and  most  beaiitiful  tropical  plants, 
which  he  had  carefully  dried,  and  to  each  of  which  he 
had  given  the  botanical  name.  He  also  gave  me  a  large 
number  of  tropical  fruits,  some  dried  and  some  preserved 
in  spirits.  I  brought  the  coffee  berry  and  nutmeg  to 
Europe  in  flower,  and  in  exactly  the  same  condition  as 
I  had  seen  them  in  Java  on  the  trees.  My  kind  friend 
also  presented  me  with  more  than  a  hundred  different  kinds 
of  miniature  weapons,  from  Java,  Sumatra,  and  Borneo,  as 
well  as  ricepaper-wood,  and  cinnamon  ;  several  bottles  of 
curious  snakes  and  other  reptiles,  a  colossal  rhinoceros-bird, 
and  an  enormous  tortoise.  All  this  the  good  gentleman 
gave  me  for  my  museum,  and  he  had  everything  packed 
so  carefully  that  when  I  opened  the  cases  in  Frankfort 
several  months  later,  I  found  not  a  single  article  broken  or 
damaged.  The  wife  of  the  head  gardener  of  the  botanical 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  27 

garden  at  Buitenzorg  gave  me  a  large  bag  full  of  cocoa 
nibs  of  her  own  growing,  from  which  twenty-five  pounds 
of  the  finest  cocoa  was  prepared  for  me,  after  they  had 
served  the  purpose  of  my  exhibition.  Mrs.  Theissen  sent 
me  a  quantity  of  vanilla,  prepared  by  herself,  and  a  dozen 
edible  swallows'  tiests. 

After  my  return  from  Sindang-laya,  I  only  remained 
three  days  in  Buitenzorg,  during  which  Mrs.  Scheffer 
showed  me  the  greatest  kindness.  But  my  illness  in- 
creased, and  when  I  left  the  romantic  spot  of  Sans  Souci 
I  was  unfortunately  not  so  well  as  when  I  arrived. 
Resident  Hogeveen,  of  Batavia,  had  known  how  to  ascer- 
tain from  the  director  at  what  time  his  guest  would  leave, 
for  when  I  asked  to  have  a  carriage  ordered,  I  was  aston- 
ished to  hear  that  a  post-chaise  was  already  waiting, 
Resident  Hogeveen  having  ordered  it  by  telegram. 

Before  I  left  the  picturesque  villa,  my  beautiful  hostess 
led  me  to  a  cosy  room  in  which  stood  a  snowy-white  cradle, 
adorned  with  the  loveliest  flowers,  and  the  prettiest  little 
bed  I  ever  saw.  Mrs.  Scheffer  had  been  married  but. 
twelve  months,  and  both  she  and  her  husband  were  wishing 
very  much  to  have  a  little  girl  or  boy.  Gentlemen  readers 
will  please  pardon  me  for  mentioning  the  little  girl  first. 
The  windows  of  the  cosy  room  were  left  open  day  and 
night,  so  that  the  Stork  might  see  the  lovely  cradle  from 
his  airy  abode,  and  come  and  lay  a  little  angel  in  its  flower- 
bed. I  kissed  my  beautiful  hostess,  expressing  my  best 
wishes  for  her  future  and  her  happiness. 

With  the  deepest  gratitude  I  took  leave  of  Doctor 
Scheffer  and  his  amiable  wife;  and  I  hold  my  Dutch 
friends  in  Buitenzorg  in  the  most  grateful  remembrance. 


28  THE  NORTH  STAR 

My  post-chaise  met  with  various  mishaps ;  we  lost  the 
right  fore-wheel  three  times,  the  left  wheel  twice,  and 
stopped  at  a  smithy  five  times. 

In  spite  of  this,  having  started  early  in  the  morning,  I 
reached  Batavia  at  twelve  o'clock,  and  the  good  Lady 
Superior  received  her  enfant  with  a  hearty  kiss.  In  the 
afternoon  I  had  a  visit  from  Monsignor  Classens,  a  very 
talented,  noble-minded  Catholic,  highly  esteemed  by  all 
the  Catholics  and  Protestants  of  Batavia.  He  honoured 
me  with  an  introduction  to  his  Grace  the  Archbishop  of 
Calcutta.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  fearful  thunder- 
storm, and  I  must  here  remark  that  this  phenomenon  of 
nature  attracted  my  special  attention  in  Java.  Never  in 
Europe,  or  America,  or  in  those  countries  of  Asia  which  I 
visited  before  coming  to  Java,  had  I  seen  the  lightning  so 
grand,  so  bright,  or  so  vivid  as  in  Java.  Every  evening 
while  in  Batavia,  I  admired  the  sheet  lightning,  the  whole 
horizon  being  often  brightly  illuminated  by  it,  and  that, 
when  the  sky  was  perfectly  clear,  and  no  storm  was  troubling 
the  heavens.  I  had  met  with  so  much  kindness  and  liber- 
ality on  my  excursions  in  the  interior,  that  of  the  three 
hundred  guldens  which  Mr.  Yolz,  of  the  firm  of  Dummler 
&  Co.,  had  placed  at  my  disposal,  I  had  only  laid  out  fifty 
guldens  so  that  I  could  give  back  two  hundred  and  fifty 
florins  on  my  return  to  Batavia. 

Mr.  Yolz  wrote  me  a  few  friendly  lines,  telling  me  not 
to  trouble  myself  about  the  balance  of  the  sum,  it  was  as 
good  as  paid.  The  American  consul,  Mr.  Pell,  head  of  the 
trm,  sent  me,  through  his  brother,  a  whole  dozen  edible 
swallows'  nests.  Mr.  Vilmer  also  presented  me  with  some 
very  valuable  curiosities,  and  a  billet  from  Batavia  to  Singa- 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  29 

pore  worth  seventy-five  Dutch  guldens,  for  which,  how- 
ever, I  imagine  myself  to  be  indebted  to  his  own  kindness, 
to  that  of  Mr.  Yolz,  and  of  the  American  consul, 
Mr.  Pell,  and  the  Grerman  consul,  Mr.  Silken.  After  the 
receipt  of  these  presents,  and  of  the  free  pass,  I  had  no 
time  left  to  thank  these  gentlemen  in  person,  but  did  so 
by  letter.  And  I  now  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity 
of  again  returning  my  most  sincere  thanks  to  them  all. 
On  the  last  evening  I  had  the  pleasure  of  dining  with 
Mrs.  C.,  the  Kesident's  sister. 

On  the  morning  of  the  20th  February  an  open  carriage 
drove  into  the  court  of  the  convent.  Resident  Hogeveen 
alighted,  and  sent  a  servant  to  tell  the  Lady  Superior 
that  he  would  take  her  guest  down  to  the  steamer,  and 
see  that  she  was  well  taken  care  of. 

The  Lady  Superior  gave  her  enfant  a  few  appropriate 
travelling  luxuries,  such  as  a  beautiful  chest  of  the  finest 
tea,  an  immense  pot  of  costly  nutmeg  jelly,  and  added  to 
them  a  truly  motherly  kiss.  With  tears  in  her  eyes 
she  took  my  hand :  "  Mon  enfant,  Dieu  vous  protege  ! 
soyez  heureuse  !  " 

" Merd,  ma  chere  mere"  were  my  last  words,  and  the 
carriage  rolled  down  to  the  harbour.  Here  I  again 
met  the  four  American  gentlemen,  who  were  also  going 
back. 

Resident  Hogeveen  placed  me  under  the  protection 
of  the  Dutch  captain,  and  remained  on  board  until  the 
last  signal  for  departure  was  given.  I  thanked  him 
heartily  for  his  friendliness  and  great  kindness  to  me. 
The  gentleman  went  back  to  his  carriage,  and  not  until 
the  steamer  was  leaving  the  harbour  did  he  return  to  town. 


30  THE  NORTH  STAR 

I  had  hardly  looked  at  the  sea  before  I  was  sea-sick  ; 
but  this  was  what  I  wished,  as  I  hoped  thus  to  cure  the 
indisposition  from  which  I  had  suffered  since  my  memo- 
rable promenade  in  the  primeval  forest,  and  to  get  back 
my  appetite  at  sea.  I  wanted  to  bring  about  a  reaction- 
ary struggle ;  and  this  was  effected  :  I  again  felt  my  long- 
lost  appetite,  took  a  hearty  meal,  and  then,  to  refresh 
myself  completely,  I  seated  myself  in  the  cool  breeze 
facing  the  equator. 

I  felt  really  better,  and  thought  in  calm  repose  of  the 
lovely  island  which  Heaven  had  permitted  me  to  see.  My 
imagination  revelled  with  the  deepest  enjoyment  in  the 
glorious  pictures  of  the  tropics,  which  I  was  bearing  with 
me  to  far  distant  lands.  They  are  my  own  for  evermore, 
and  through  the  secrets  of  inexhaustible  nature  I  have 
learned  to  love  my  God  and  Creator  more  than  ever.  And 
because  of  the  sweet  recollections  of  this  tropical  Eden, 
the  reader  will  readily  excuse  me  for  not  distiirbing  my 
poetic  dreams  with  cold  and  witless  prose.  I  will  there- 
fore say  nothing  of  the  Dutch  mode  of  government, 
nothing  of  the  "  coffee  monopoly."  Other  travellers  in 
the  Eastern  world  may  tell  with  what  policy  the  Dutch 
government  rules  the  natives,  and  by  what  means  it 
draws  capital  from  the  rich  productions  of  the  golden  island. 

I  was  only  one  mouth  in  Java,  and  so  short  a  time  is  not 
long  enough  to  learn  to  know  and  understand  the  com- 
mercial relations  of  the  Dutch  and  their  political  attitude 
towards  the  natives,  or  the  material  and  spiritual  progress 
of  the  latter.  Politics,  I  would  say,  are  the  affairs  of  men, 
and  to  me  they  are  the  most  indifferent  "lari-fari"  of 
human  life. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  31 

I  went  to  Java  to  see  the  beauties  of  the  island,  and 
not  to  study  the  coffee  monopoly  and  the  politics  of  the 
Dutch. 

I  was  only  able  to  judge  of  the  outward  appearance  of 
the  natives  of  Java,  and,  as  far  as  that  goes,  I  may  say 
that  I  found  them  not  only  good-humoured,  unaffected,  and 
polite,  but  also  apparently  perfectly  contented  and  happy. 

The  Dutch  and  other  Europeans  of  Java  live  in  the 
most  charming  harmony,  and  a  truly  Christian  spirit 
prevails  amongst  them.  There  is  none  of  that  haughty 
pride  and  arrogant  assumption  of  superiority  which  I 
noticed  among  the  various  castes  of  European  merchants 
and  officials  in  other  settlements  in  Asia.  What  the  little 
peaceful  kingdom  of  Holland  is  to  Europe,  that  the  beau- 
tiful Dutch  island  of  Java  in  the  Eastern  Archipelago  is  to 
Asia. 

Both  are  under  the  government  of  one  monarch,  and 
snug  little  Holland  is  a  bright  star  of  peace,  order,  and 
quiet  amongst  the  restless  aspiring  nations  of  "Western 
Christendom,  whilst  the  island  of  Java,  with  its  peace- 
loving,  hospitable  children  of  the  mother  country,  is  the 
most  beautiful  Eden  of  the  East. 

There  is  but  one  thing  which  troubles  my  remembrance 
of  this  Eden,  and  detracts  from  the  glory  of  this  bright 
pearl.  Oh,  that  the  good  Europeans  of  Java,  who 
received  and  dismissed  me  so  generously,  would  prohibit 
the  ceremonies  to  the  honour  of  the  false  gods  of  the 
natives  of  Java;  would  that  they  would  recognise  that 
their  dependents  are  men  like  themselves,  and  that,  in  the 
interests  of  humanity  and  freedom,  they  would  establish 
a  law  that  no  civilized  Christian,  no  European  planter, 


32  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

merchant,  or  officer  should  possess  the  despotic  and 
execrable  right  of  making  his  poor  servants  appear  before 
their  lord  and  master  on  their  knees,  as  I  have  seen  them 
do.  Then,  only,  when  I  hear  that  the  Christians  on  the 
island  of  Java  are  no  longer  slave  owners,  shall  I  be  able 
to  contemplate  this  Eden  upon  earth  with  pure  untroubled 

joy- 
One  ever  delightful  recollection  is  the  pleasant  thought 

that  my  countrymen  at  Batavia  and  the  rest  of  Java  were 
the  first  Germans  in  Asia  of  whom  none  has  declared  war 
against  me,  and  who  all  have  received  and  treated  me  in 
an  unselfish  genial  spirit,  like  that  of  my  dear  fellow- 
countrymen  in  America. 

The  love  of  our  mother  country  and  of  the  brothers  and 
sisters  of  our  home,  is  innate  in  us  all.  This  love  is  part 
of  our  nature,  which  none  can  deny.  1,  too,  feel  this  deep 
imperative  love,  wherever  I  am ;  I  dearly  love  the  land 
of  my  birth,  and  all  the  children  of  men  who  live  beneath 
the  same  sky  as  my  father,  my  mother,  and  all  who  are 
dear  to  me. 

It  is  with  true  pleasure  that  I  bear  witness  to  the  good 
which  I  experienced  amongst  my  fellow-countrymen 
abroad ;  and  I  feel  pained,  when,  in  the  interest  of  truth, 
and  the  honesty  of  my  narrative,  I  have  to  report  any- 
thing to  the  contrary. 

On  my  return  voyage  to  Singapore,  I  saw  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  phenomena  of  the  wonderful  deep.  On 
the  second  evening,  soon  after  we  had  passed  the  equator, 
Mr.  Curtis,  an  American  gentleman,  and  I  were  sitting 
together  on  the  deck.  There  was  no  moon,  but  the  sky 
was  studded  with  the  most  brilliant  stars.  The  sea  was 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GEOSS.  33 

extremely  calm,  and  nothing  broke  the  solemn  stillness 
but  the  movement  of  the  rudder  and  the  cry  of  the  men 
on  watch. 

Suddenly  we  heard  a  soft  surging  in  the  water,  and  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  as  if  by  a  stroke  of  magic,  the 
surface  of  the  sea  became  of  a  light  fiery  red  colour.  We 
sprang  from  our  seats  in  wild  excitement,  and  exclaimed 
with  one  voice, "  How  magnificent ;  what  a  splendid  sight ! 
What  is  it,  what  is  it  ? " 

Before  us  was  spread  out  a  sea  of  phosphoric  light 
studded  with  thousands  of  beautiful  stars  of  various  mag- 
nitudes, sparkling  and  twinkling  like  Jupiter  and  Yenus 
in  the  sky.  An  enchanting  scene !  a  firmament  upon  the 
sea !  The  distance  from  star  to  star  was  small  —  perhaps 
a  foot.  The  floating  golden  luminaries  were  extremely 
beautiful,  and  I  was  in  the  greatest  delight.  For  the 
moment  the  whole  of  the  mighty  universe  had  disap- 
peared, and  I  drank  in  the  enchanting  scene  before  me. 
The  blinding  reflection  of  the  dazzling  constellations 
penetrated  to  the  deepest  depth  of  the  ocean.  Alas, 
alas !  this  unrivalled  beauty  did  not  last  long.  Only  a 
minute,  and  the  twinkling  stars  had  disappeared.  I 
applauded  in  mad  delight  "  encore  !  "  and  I  felt  as  if  they 
must  appear  again.  But  no  !  the  stage  remained  empty ; 
not  one  of  the  glowing  bodies  came  back.  Once  more 
did  ocean  hide  all  this  rare  beauty  in  her  bosom !  For 
some  time  afterwards  the  surface  of  the  water  retained  a 
bright  phosphorescent  light,  the  steamer  seemed  to  make 
its  way  through  fire,  and  the  waves,  as  the  paddle-wheels 
parted  them,  emitted  bright  dazzling  rays  of  light. 

About  a  quarter  of  an  hour  later,  as  we  were  standing 
VOL.  n.  3 


34  THE  NORTH  STAR 

at  the  end  of  the  steamer,  we  noticed  a  light  on  the  distant 
horizon  which  lit  up  the  sea  for  a  considerable  distance, 
and  resembled  the  moon.  But  there  was  no  moon  in  the 
heavens.  What  could  this  light  be?  As  we  were  asking 
each  other  this  question  in  the  greatest  astonishment,  an 
ever-brightening  mass  of  light  seemed  to  roll  towards  us 
over  the  sea  from  the  distant  horizon.  A  few  moments 
and  the  whole  surface  of  the  water  round  about  us  glowed 
for  the  second  time  in  phosphorescent  beauty.  "  They  are 
coming  back !"  I  cried,  delighted.  But  no,  the  twinkling 
stars  of  the  first  apparition  were  not  visible  again.  Rare 
beauty  soon  passes ;  rare  flowers  seldom  bloom  long. 

The  first  phenomenon  was  the  finest  scene  of  its  kind  I 
ever  witnessed  between  heaven  and  earth.  The  captain 
of  the  steamer  Batavia,  on  which  we  then  were,  told  me 
that  even  in  tropical  seas,  where  phosphorescence  is  a 
phenomenon  of  such  frequent  occurrence,  it  is  very  sel- 
dom that  a  star-studded  ocean  sky,  a  positive  sea  of  stars, 
is  visible  in  the  phosphorescent  light ;  and  yet  more  rare 
is  such  perfect  grandeur  and  bewitching  beauty  as  we  had 
witnessed  this  evening.  There  are  sailors  and  travellers 
who  have  sailed  all  round  the  world,  and  yet  have  never 
had  the  good  fortune  to  see  so  rare  a  phenomenon. 

I  have  seen  the  most  fascinating  spectacle  of  ocean's 
depths,  and  all  that  I  have  read  relating  to  phosphorescent 
lights,  the  few  lines  by  Byron,  or  by  Tadd,  do  not  express 
what  I  saw  that  evening  in  the  tropical  sea  between 
Batavia  and  Singapore. 

I  went  to  bed  much  excited,  and  often  woke  up  in  the 
night  to  hasten  to  the  window  of  my  cabin,  hoping  that 
brilliant  Jupiter  and  Venus  had  come  back  once  more 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  35 

—  but  no,  no,  to  this  day  1  have  never  again  seen 
them. 

Our  return  voyage  from  Batavia  to  Singapore  was 
extremely  pleasant;  this  time  we  had  no  four-footed 
passengers,  and  none  of  us  missed  the  odour  of  the  good 
creatures  called  swine. 

How  often  I  feasted  my  eyes  on  the  beauties  of  the  rich 
Spice  Islands  standing  out  clearly  in  the  distance  on  every 
side.  This  Archipelago  includes  a  great  many  different 
countries  which  are  the  golden  sources  of  trade  for  the 
Western  world.  Round  about  me  lay  Sumatra,  Banca, 
Borneo,  Java,  Celebes,  Timor,  New  Guinea,  and  others, 
the  names  of  which  have  escaped  my  memory. 

As  we  neared  the  harbour  of  Singapore,  I  saw,  to  my 
astonishment,  the  elegant  steamer  Glenarthney,  of  the  firm 
of  Jardin,  Matheson  &  Co., of  Hong-Kong,  for  which  I  had 
a  free  billet  to  Calcutta.  On  landing,  the  American 
gentlemen  at  once  ascertained  when  the  steamer  would 
leave  Singapore,  and  they  came  to  tell  me  that  it  would 
put  to  sea  in  a  few  hours.  I  had  arrived  just  in  time,  and 
had  now  nothing  to  do  but  to  make  haste  and  get  ready  to 
start  again.  My  travelling  effects  were  scattered  on  every 
side.  One  trunk  and  my  money  I  had  left  in  the  French 
convent,  ten  cases  were  in  the  warehouse  of  Messrs. 
Boustedt  &  Co.,  and  one  trunk  and  five  cases  I  brought 
from  Batavia.  All  this  had  to  be  carried  on  board  the 
steamer  Glenarthney,  which  was  soon  leaving.  It  was  very 
hot  and  oppressive,  and  too  much  haste  was  not  advisable. 

I  took  a  carriage,  drove  to  the  convent,  and  collected  my 
goods,  taking  a  grateful  farewell  of  the  worthy  Lady 
Superior.  From  there  I  drove  to  the  German  consul, 


36  THE  NORTH  STAR 

Mr.  Mooney,  who  gave  me  a  letter  to  the  German  consul 
in  Calcutta.  Then  I  drove  rapidly  to  Mr.  Young,  of  the 
firm  of  Boustedt  &  Co.,  who,  as  I  should  have  no  further 
need  for  Mexican  money,  changed  my  little  property  into 
Indian  rupees.  My  Californian  treasure  I  kept  as  it 
was.  Mr.  Young  was  very  kind  to  me ;  he  at  once 
relieved  me  from  all  further  trouble  with  my  numerous 
trunks  and  cases,  and  sent  a  workman  of  the  house  who 
saw  everything  safely  on  board,  and,  like  a  good-hearted 
Scotchman  as  he  was,  who  had  treated  me  through- 
out in  a  most  disinterested  manner,  hearing,  after  my 
departure,  for  what  object  I  was  collecting  curiosities,  sent 
me  some  very  handsome  specimens  of  stuffed  Birds  of 
Paradise,  addressed  to  the  care  of  the  German  consul  in 
Bombay. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  3? 


CHAPTEK  II. 

I  HAD  arrived  at  Singapore  at  one  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, and  at  five  o'clock  in  the  evening  the  Glenarthney 
steered  through  the  Straits  of  Malacca,  making  for  Penang 
via  Toco  Island. 

The  steamer  was  a  fine  large  vessel,  and  the  commander, 
Captain  Bolton,  an  extremely  dignified  and  cultivated 
Englishman,  whose  regularity,  punctuality,  and  vigilance 
we  had  good  reason  to  admire.  Some  three  months  before, 
the  good  captain  had  lost  his  wife  and  a  little  daughter  on 
the  voyage  from  England  to  Calcutta ;  both  were  buried 
beneath  the  waves.  A  dear  little  son  had  outlived  the 
poor  mother,  who  had  been  brought  to  the  much  afflicted 
father  by  his  foster-mother,  and  was  now  on  board  with 
him.  The  sweet  child  was  only  five  years  old,  and  his 
innocent  jokes  and  games  served  to  while  away  many  an 
hour,  and  I  became  very  fond  of  him. 

My  cabin  was  large  and  elegant,  and  I  noticed,  with  the 
deepest  gratitude,  that  in  all  the  American  and  English 
vessels  on  which  a  free  passage  was  given  to  me,  I 
was  treated  with  the  most  delicate  and  friendly  consider- 
ation. It  was  not  only  that  I,  a  solitary  lady,  travelling 


38  THE  NORTH  STAR 

over  so  many  seas  alone  did  not  experience  the  least 
annoyance,  but  my  very  loneliness  was  the  cause  of 
increased  respect  from  American  and  English  sailors, 
and  my  helpless  position  was  a  positive  advantage  to  me. 

The  four  American  gentlemen  who  had  come  with  me 
from  Batavia  were  again  my  fellow-passengers  on  the 
Glenarthney.  I  can  truly  say  that  all  of  them  were  gentle- 
men in  the  truest  sense.  I  met  them  six  or  seven  times 
on  my  journey,  met  them  together,  and  alone,  and  they 
always  showed  me  the  same  genuine  and  chivalrous 
courtesy  as  I  experienced  in  their  own  land,  where  respect 
for  women  is  universally  considered  the  chief  grace  of  a 
man. 

We  had  the  most  lovely  tropical  weather ;  no  waves 
disturbed  the  blue  surface  of  the  peaceful  sea  ;  the  heat 
was  bearable ;  a  cool  breeze  blew  about  the  masts ;  the 
mornings,  evenings,  and  nights  were  most  beautiful.  The 
flying  punkah  was  kept  in  motion  in  the  dining-saloon  at 
meal- times ;  there  were  plenty  of  delicious  tropical  fruits 
kept  cool  by  the  application  of  ice ;  and  we  had  an 
excellent  table.  There  was  a  good  bath-room  on  board, 
and  twice  a  day  I  cooled  myself  in  the  ever-fresh  spring 
of  Neptune. 

On  the  deck  hung  bright  cages  containing  the  choicest 
tropical  birds,  which  sang  and  twittered  from  morning 
till  night,  and  were  tended  with  the  greatest  solicitude  by 
the  officers  and  sailors.  A  Cochin  China  tiger  was  a  pas- 
senger on  the  Glenarthney.  He  was  travelling  to  Calcutta. 
The  tiger  was  a  wild  bloodthirsty  beast,  which  had  to  be 
looked  after  with  the  greatest  vigilance. 

The  captain's  little  darling  had  a  wonderful  little  horse, 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  39 

a  very  young  foal,  on  which  the  young  rider,  secured  by 
straps,  rode  from  one  end  of  the  vessel  to  the  other. 

There  are  a  good  many  flying-fishes  in  the  Straits  of 
Malacca,  and  I  often  admired  their  rapid  flight.  On  one 
occasion  I  saw  one  take  an  unbroken  flight  of  at  least  an 
English  mile. 

,  The  captain  and  officers  took  great  trouble  to  catch  one 
for  me,  but  unsuccessfully.  Later,  in  the  Red  Sea,  I  had 
myself  an  opportunity  of  catching  one,  and  I  took  the 
curious  fish-bird  home  with  me  in  a  bottle  of  spirits. 

On  this  sea-voyage  I  saw  the  sun  rise  and  set  with  the 
greatest  splendour,  and  I  enjoyed  the  most  beautiful  nights 
ever  met  with  beneath  the  tropical  sky. 

But  alas !  in  the  happiest  moments  of  my  journey 
there  ever  remained  one  wish  unfulfilled,  frustrated  by 
my  own  powerlessness.  I  could  never  admire  anything 
grand  or  beautiful  in  nature  without  cherishing  a  fervent 
desire  to  share  each  glance  with  my  dear  ones,  and  with 
all  lovers  of  nature. 

Generally  we  stood  at  the  bow  of  the  vessel  when  the 
sun  was  setting ;  it  was  like  a  solemn  meeting  in  a  church 
of  God,  and  truly !  we  were  in  the  most  beautiful  temple 
beneath  the  sky.  If  it  would  not  take  thirteen  years  and 
a  half  for  a  mortal's  prayer  to  reach  the  sun,  I  might 
perhaps  have  become  a  Parsee  in  the  Straits  of  Malacca, 
and  have  worshipped  the  luminary  of  the  day. 

The  glowing  orb,  forming  an  ever  grander  ball  of  fire, 
was  surrounded  by  all  those  charming  colours  which  will 
ever  remain  the  secret  of  the  Heavenly  painter,  and  are 
among  the  grandest  phenomena  of  the  beauteous  tropics.  A 
diverse  variety  of  the  most  beautiful  shades  of  red  —  a  diver- 


40  THE  NORTH  STAB 

sity  of  the  tenderest  green  tints, —  a  play  of  yellow  rays, — 
an  enchanting  halo  of  the  softest  blue, — in  short,  a  collec- 
tion of  the  most  perfect  colours ;  —  I  cannot  enumerate 
them.  And  now,  behold !  suddenly  a  magic  change  in 
their  situation  ;  the  colours  cross  each  other  and  fade  away 
in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  —  it  is  the  last  glance  of  the 
orb  —  the  gates  open — the  orb  enters — and  is  seen  no  more. 

But  the  play  of  changing  colours  is  still  beautiful  about 
the  portals  of  the  sun,  and  I  see  wonder  after  wonder  which 
I  cannot  describe. 

The  sky  was  still  red,  green,  blue,  and  yellow,  when 
lovely  Yenus  modestly  stept  forth,  leading  the  way  for 
the  other  planets,  but  soon  silently  retiring  herself.  And 
now  how  rapidly  are  the  glories  of  the  solemn  scene  spread 
out !  thousands  of  diamonds  glitter  in  the  light  blue  firma- 
ment. 

The  Holy  Cross !  I  again  see  it  in  the  South ;  it  rises 
slowly.  It  ascends  to  the  highest  point  of  heaven,  and 
stands  out  gloriously  amongst  the  starry  hosts.  Again  it 
has  so  much  to  say  to  me ;  and  my  heart  experiences  min- 
gled grief  and  bliss. 

What  a  delight  the  tropical  sky  was  to  me,  the  reader 
may  judge  when  I  tell  him  that  every  night  on  this  voyage 
I  spent  from  one  to  three  o'clock  on  deck,  drinking  hi  the 
glories  of  the  planets  and  stars,  in  silent  admiration,  and 
watching  the  course  of  the  Southern  Cross. 

After  midnight  the  constellations  were  much  clearer 
and  brighter,  and  the  sky  more  brilliant  than  before.  The 
foui'  glittering  stars  which  form  the  Cross  were  at  the 
zenith  of  their  beauty,  and  at  their  highest  point  in  the 
heavens  in  the  dead  of  the  night. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  41 

And  the  air  was  pure  and  Bweet ;  all  creation  so  still 
and  solemn,  heaven  and  the  world  were  so  holy,  and  my 
God  was  so  near  me. 

Beautiful,  glorious  nights  ;  never  more  upon  earth  shall 
I  again  enjoy  such  a  peaceful  holy  time.  But  my  longing 
spirit  often  turns  back  to  the  grand  world  of  the  South, 
and  I  live  again  in  the  enjoyment  of  many  sweet  hours 
of  the  past.  A  thousand  times  I  look  back  to  that 
wonderful  sky.  to  those  glorious  stars,  and  the  holy  Cross, 
and  I  pray  again  as  I  did  in  the  lonely  hours  of  those 
lovely  nights. 

On  the  sixth  day  we  crossed  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  and  we 
ran  into  one  of  the  mouths  of  the  Ganges.  This  spot  is 
very  dangerous  on  account  of  the  shifting  sandbanks. 
Unfortunately  many  fine  ships  are  there  wrecked. 
Captain  Bolton  was  most  careful,  and  the  last  night  he 
did  not  leave  the  deck  for  a  moment.  We  made  a  safe 
entrance,  however,  on  the  evening  of  the  1st  of  March, 
anchoring  in  the  harbour  of  Calcutta,  after  a  delightful 
voyage  of  seven  days. 

I  had  two  letters  of  introduction  to  his  Grace  the 
Right  Rev.  Walter  Steins,  Archbishop  of  Calcutta,  which 
Captain  B.  forwarded  to  their  destination  the  first  thing 
in  the  morning.  To  these  two  letters  I  added  a  few  lines, 
in  which  I  begged  his  Grace  to  recommend  me  for  a 
few  days  to  the  care  of  the  Lady  Superior  of  the  Loretto 
Convent. 

Shortly  afterwards  a  gentleman  considerably  advanced 
in  years  arrived,  whom  I  at  once  saw  to  be  a  devout  inonk. 
The  good  brother  in  formed  me  that  he  had  orders  to  take 
me  to  the  Convent  U.  instead  of  the  Convent  Loretto,  but 


42  THE  NORTH  STAR 

that  his  Grace  wished  to  see  me  first.  His  carriage  was 
waiting  on  shore,  and  the  good  brother  and  1  drove  to  the 
palace  of  the  archbishop. 

My  companion  led  me  to  the  reception-room.  His 
Grace,  a  tall,  noble-looking  man,  came  and  greeted  me 
in  High  German,  and  his  pure  accent  led  me  to  suppose  him 
to  be  a  compatriot,  although  he  really  was  a  Dutchman 
by  birth. 

His  conversation  and  bearing  were  alike  extremely 
dignified,  kind,  and  sympathetic,  and  I  was  entirely 
spared  those  scrupulous  religious  questions  which  are  the 
first  thought  of  most  ecclesiastics  after  the  first  greet- 
ings, and  during  which  I  always  felt  so  oppressed  and 
uncomfortable. 

His  Grace  had  only  just  returned  from  the  council 
at  Rome ;  he  told  me  much  of  the  beauties  he  had  seen 
on  his  journey,  and,  in  return,  I  related  some  of  the 
particulars  of  my  travels. 

I  then  took  leave  of  his  Grace.  He  placed  his 
carriage  at  my  disposal,  and  brother  A.  drove  with  me  to 
the  post,  from  there  to  the  German  consul,  and  then  to 
Convent  U.  The  good  brother  said  much  to  me  by  the  way 
in  praise  of  the  excellency  of  the  convent  and  of  the  Lady 
Superior  and  the  sisters,  and  told  me  I  should  be  sure  to 
be  happy  amongst  them.  But  it  was  not  so.  I  gladly 
own  that  I  was  received  by  one  of  the  sweetest  and  most 
beautiful  of  those  who  hide  their  charms  and  graces  within 
the  walls  of  a  convent;  but  this  is  the  best  I  can 
say  respecting  the  Lady  Superior  of  the  Convent  U.  In 
society  I  never  met  with  such  foolish  eagerness  foi 
flattery  and  admiration  from  others,  such  excitability, 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  4b 

egotism,  and  heartlessness  as  in  this  ecclesiastical  lady. 
The  kisses  bestowed  upon  the  hands  of  this  ambitious 
woman  must  have  mounted  up  to  many  millions  in  the 
course  of  her  life.  On  the  veiy  first  day,  I  observed  that 
all  Christian  uprightness,  all  truth-loving  rectitude,  which 
should  adorn  the  ecclesiastical  state,  were  wanting  in 
this  convent.  Between  the  beautiful,  but  disagreeable, 
Lady  Superior  and  the  different  nuns  and  other  female 
inmates  of  the  convent,  there  was  a  party  jealousy  very 
painful  to  witness.  The  smooth-tongued  and  flatterers 
were  willingly  received  and  preferred,  whilst  others  were 
passed  over. 

The  beautiful  Lady  Superior  was  very  young — too 
young  for  her  position.  She  slept  in  an  elegant  little 
bedroom,  and  she  was,  or  wished  to  be  considered,  suifering, 
and  she  required  a  doctor.  She  received  all  the  female 
inmates  of  the  convent  in  her  bedroom,  as  well  as  gentle- 
men and  priests. 

The  incessant,  almost  regal,  attendance,  the  excessive 
flattering  veneration,  the  humble  bowing,  and  constant 
hand-kissing,  bestowed  by  all  upon  the  beautiful  suffering 
Lady  Superior,  were  indeed  little  short  of  idolatry. 

The  building  was  enormous,  and  so  was  the  disorder 
in  it. 

On  the  first  evening,  as  I  had  been  forgotten  at  the 
supper  table,  I  went  to  the  room  assigned  to  me,  dis- 
appointed and  hungry.  When  I  saw  the  neglected,  dirty 
rooms  and  miserable  night  quarters,  I  could  not  help  being 
astonished  at  such  disorder,  and  slovenliness  being  tolerated 
in  a  house  full  of  healthy  women.  That  I  should  have 
come  to  this  convent  by  the  wish  and  at  the  recom- 


44  THE  NORTH  STAR 

mendation  of  his  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Calcutta, 
was  a  riddle  to  me.  That  exalted  ecclesiastical  dignitary 
knew  the  Lady  Superior  very  well,  and  ought  certainly 
to  have  been  aware  how  she  governed  her  house,  for  the 
convent  was  under  his  jurisdiction.  I  felt  surprised  that 
his  Grace  had  not  sent  me  to  the  Convent  Loretto,  to 
which  I  desired  to  go. 

I  had  only  a  wretched  breakfast  towards  noon  on  the 
first  day,  and  that  I  was  obliged  to  ask  for,  as  nobody 
offered  me  anything.  All  I  got  to  eat  on  that  day  was 
not  enough  for  a  person  in  health,  and  the  next  night  I 
was  kept  awake  by  my  hunger. 

On  the  second  and  third  days  I  had  a  good  deal  of 
difficulty  and  trouble  with  the  English  custom  house,  and 
had  to  pay  duty  on  all  my  cases  and  boxes  of  curiosities 
before  I  could  transfer  them  from  the  Glenarthney  to 
another  steamer.  It  was  but  early  in  March,  yet  the  sun 
was  glaring  and  powerful,  and  every  time  that  I  came 
back  to  the  convent  after  a  trip  to  the  steamer  and 
custom  house  I  was  completely  exhausted.  I  had 
nothing  to  refresh  me ;  the  meals,  for  which  there  was  no 
fixed  time,  were  too  poor  and  insufficient  to  keep  up  my 
strength. 

I  had  already  heard  in  China  and  other  parts  of  the 
East,  that  Calcutta  was  a  very  stiff  aristocratic  city,  and 
I  found  this  to  be  true. 

In  an  American  town,  where  the  notion  is  stih1  cherished 
that  even  ladies  sometimes  require  refreshment  to  keep 
body  and  soul  together,  sensible  measures  have  been 
taken  to  provide  suitable  places  where  ladies  who  are 
alone  may  take  a  meal  without  breach  of  decorum. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  45 

Calcutta  is  an  English  city,  and  in  my  travels  I  have  learnt 
to  honour  and  admire  the  English  nation,  but  I  cannot  re- 
frain from  remarking  that  amongst  the  English  of  some 
places  in  India  I  met  with  many  customs  which  are  alike 
contrary  to  reason  and  inhuman. 

I  was  very  hungry,  and  I  let  a  young  lady  of  the  con- 
vent, who  had  a  pair  of  beautiful  honest  eyes,  into  the 
terrible  secret  of  my  hunger.  I  asked  her  if  she  could 
show  me  some  restaurant  where  I  could  take  a  good  meal 
without  offending  against  the  customs  of  the  place  or  in- 
juring my  own  character.  "  It  is  an  English  city,"  said 
the  young  lady,  "  and  it  is  not  proper  for  a  true  lady  to  go 
into  a  restaurant  alone." 

It  is  true  that  I  had  commenced  an  undertaking  foreign 
to  my  nature  in  travelling  round  the  world  alone,  and  it 
may  strike  the  reader  as  ridiculous  that  I  would  not  go 
into  a  restaurant  alone  and  that  at  a  time  when  I  was  very 
hungry.  But  I  was  not  yet  emancipated  from  considering 
public  opinion  with  reference  to  rny  actions,  the  full  burden 
of  which  I  first  realised  when  I  stood  in  the  middle  of  the 
brook,  and  had  to  go  either  forwards  or  backwards  to  get 
out  of  it ;  nor  was  I  bold  enough  to  show  myself  inde- 
pendent of  the  regulations  of  a  civilised  society,  and  to 
overstep  the  bounds  of  an  established  custom.  Moreover, 
I  was  very  proud,  and  did  not  wish  to  incur  blame.  I 
recognised  very  well  the  evil  and  absurdity  of  many  cus- 
toms, but  my  modesty  and  my  sensitive  pride  rebelled 
.against  any  humiliation  in  consequence  of  their  non- 
observance. 

But,  as  I  said  before,  I  was  hungry,  and  what  was  to  be 
done  ?  I  took  courage,  went  into  the  room  of  the  Lady 


46  THE  NORTH  STAR 

Superior,  openly  complained  to  her  of  having  so  little  to 
eat,  and  said  I  felt  very  wretched.  The  sweet  and  beau- 
tiful lady  told  me  it  was  the  holy  fasting  season,  and  it 
was  the  duty  of  a  good  Catholic  to  deny  herself  something 
for  the  love  of  God  and  of  Christ.  With  that  the  beauty 
drank  off  a  glass  of  Bordeaux,  whilst  on  her  table  stood  a 
delicious  breakfast.  I  was  provoked,  and  told  her  that  I 
did  not  set  up  for  being  one  of  the  best  of  Roman  Catho- 
lics, and  that  I  could  not  fast  easily.  Nor  did  I  hesitate 
to  add  how  much  this  reception  and  treatment  surprised 
me,  for  I  had  told  his  Grace  that  I  would  pay  for  what  I 
had  in  the  convent.  The  beautiful  Lady  now  suspected 
that  I  meant  to  bring  a  complaint  against  her  to  his  Grace. 
She  reddened  with  anger,  and  said  in  a  haughty  coquet- 
tish manner,  "  And  if  his  Grace  should  hear  the  truth,  he 
will  fling  it  on  the  ground  and  trample  it  underfoot,  for  he 
has  long  known  that  in  my  dominions  I  rule  and  govern 
as  I  please." 

I  now  knew  enough.  The  coquettish  Lady  Superioi 
was  as  spiteful  and  heartless  as  she  was  young  and 
beautiful.  I  would  not  complain  to  the  archbishop, 
neither  would  I  fast  for  the  sake  of  a  beautiful  coquette. 
Aijd  so,  not  to  offend  against  propriety,  and  yet  to 
appease  my  hunger,  I  asked  the  young  lady  with  the 
honest  eyes  if  she  would  take  me  to  a  restaurant.  This 
request  was  welcomed  by  her,  for  she  confessed  to  me 
that  she  herself,  in  consequence  of  the  long  fast,  was  very 
weak  and  hungry.  Now,  it  is  customary  in  Calcutta,  ae 
in  some  other  English  settlements  in  Asia,  that  well-bred 
ladies  should  not  walk,  and  although,  on  the  day  in 
question,  a  cooling  rain  having  fallen,  it  would  have  been 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  4? 

very  pleasant  to  walk,  I  was  determined  not  to  offend 
against  any  established  customs,  but  to  fulfil  them  to  the 
last  syllable. 

The  beautiful  Lady  Superior  was  in  her  bedroom,  and 
concerned  herself  little  with  what  went  on  in  the  convent, 
either  before  her  face  or  behind  her  back. 

The  porter  went  and  called  a  carriage,  and  the  young 
lady  and  I  drove  away.  I  knew  of  no  restaurant,  and 
spoke  no  Hindostanee,  so  my  companion  told  the  coachman 
to  take  us  to  the  first  restaurant  of  the  city.  Arrived  there, 
we  did  not  get  out,  but  I  opened  the  window,  beckoned  to 
an  English  waiter  in  a  dainty  costume,  who  was  walking  on 
the  pavement  before  the  hotel,  and  ordered  two  beefsteaks 
a  Vanglaise  and  a  bottle  of  pale  ale.  In  about  eight  minutes 
the  long-desired  dish  arrived,  two  plates,  two  forks,  two 
knives,  napkins,  glasses,  &c.  A  good  many  "  lords  and 
gentlemen  "  were  walking  about  outside  the  grand  restau- 
rant, but  I  observed  no  ladies.  We  did  not  wish  to  be 
seen,  so  I  drew  down  the  curtain  of  the  carriage  window, 
and  we  thoroughly  relished  our  beefsteak  and  pale  ale.  I 
paid  the  bill,  and  we  drove  back  to  the  convent.  The 
whole  affair  cost  six  rupees ;  three  for  the  restaurant,  and 
three  for  the  carriage.  Carriages  are  very  dear  in  Cal- 
cutta, as  everywhere  else  in  India.  But  this  refreshing 
meal  did  me  a  hundred  rupees'  worth  of  good,  and  the 
renovating  sleep  I  enjoyed  the  next  night,  unbroken  by 
any  cravings  of  hunger,  was  worth  quite  as  much. 

The  city  of  Calcutta,  bearing  the  imposing  title  of  the 
City  of  Palaces,  contains  little  of  interest,  and  is  not  worthy 
of  its  name.  The  British  government  buildings,  and  the 
first-class  private  residences,  are  certainly  stately  and 


48  THE  NORTH  STAR 

solid,  but  they  are  by  no  means  elegant.  The  native 
quarter  is  very  unsightly  .and  mean-looking,  very  dirty 
and  slovenly.  The  organization  of  a  police  watch  would 
be  no  wasted  expenditure  on  the  part  of  the  British 
authorities. 

The  general  appearance  of  this  Anglo-Indian  city  is 
monotonous  and  stiff.  The  inhabitants  are  principally 
Hindus  and  Europeans.  It  struck  me  as  remarkable,  that 
in  this  great  seaport,  which  is  in  commercial  relations  with 
so  many  islands  and  countries,  I  saw  so  few  different 
races.  The  Chinese  and  Siamese,  the  Javanese,  Cingalese, 
and  Malays  of  the  south  migrate  to  Bombay,  the  rival 
capital  of  Imdia,  rather  than  to  Calcutta. 

The  rendezvous  of  the  titled  and  moneyed  magnates  of 
Calcutta  is  the  so-called  "Eden,"  a  fashionable  public 
garden ;  not  until  sunset  and  twilight,  however,  does  the 
show  of  the  Anglo-Indian  aristocratic  world  begin,  and 
one  evening  the  young  lady  with  the  honest  eyes  was  kind 
enough  to  take  me  there.  Of  course,  we  drove  there  and 
back. 

Here  Britannia's  dainty  daughters,  with  their  stately 
and  graceful  figures,  pace  to  and  fro  ;  here  Rajahs,  decked 
out  in  theatrical  style,  and  thickly  studded  with  jewels, 
eye  their  more  humble  fellow-men  with  stupid  haughti- 
ness. Every  glance  from  the  rich  Baboo  betrays  that 
he  understands  opium  and  cotton,  and  is  a  prince  on 
'change.  But  his  costume  is  modest ;  nothing  but  white 
cambric  adorns  the  "mercer  son  of  Croesus."  Ma- 
hommedans,  taking  their  promenade,  kneel  down  in  the 
twilight  in  the  beautiful  garden,  and  turn  their  faces 
towards  Mecca.  The  sun  has  gone  to  rest ;  the  eyes  of  the 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  49 

pious  Parsee  gaze  after  the  beautiful  god,  whilst  it  is 
still  pursuing  its  career  in  the  West. 

"  God  save  the  Queen  "  sounds  from  amongst  the  palms 
and  cypresses,  and  a  full  chorus  from  loyal  hearts  rings 
out  in  the  cool  evening  air. 

I  visited  the  Botanical  Garden,  but  after  having  de- 
scribed that  of  Buitenzorg,  I  can  spare  no  words  for 
it.  The  green  parrots  and  the  horrible  screaming  wrens 
were  novelties  to  me.  Both  varieties  of  birds  are  as 
common  in  Calcutta  as  sparrows  are  on  the  Rhine. 
Calcutta,  although,  like  Canton,  it  is  beneath  the  twenty- 
third  degree  of  north  latitude,  is  much  hotter  than  the 
latter  city.  The  sun,  at  this  season  of  the  year,  was 
already  broiling  hot,  and  it  was  dangerous  to  expose 
oneself  to  its  rays  without  protection.  What  merchants  and 
workmen,  even  the  most  careful,  must  endure  throughout 
the  year,  in  spite  of  all  artificial  coolness,  in  Calcutta  and 
other  places  in  tropical  India,  can  only  be  realised  by  those 
who  know  the  power  of  the  Indian  sun  from  experience. 
The  German  consul,  Mr.  Schmidt,  introduced  me  to 
Messrs.  Wolff,  Wilmar  &  Co.,  one  of  the  first  German 
firms  in  Calcutta,  who  were  despatching  the  first  German 
steamer  from  Calcutta  to  Bremen.  Mr.  Oldemar  and  Mr. 
Wilmar,  two  members  of  this  firm,  were  very  obliging  to 
me,  and  offered  to  send  my  fifteen  cases  and  boxes  from 
Calcutta  to  Bremen  free  of  cost.  As  I  have  already  stated, 
the  transshipment  of  my  curiosities,  and  the  declarations 
at  the  custom  house,  gave  me  a  great  deal  of  trouble. 
Nevertheless,  I  must  commend  the  courtesy  and  friendly 
consideration  of  the  English  officials.  Had  I  come  to  the 
custom  house  as  an  English  princess,  the  inspector  and 
VOL.  n.  4 


50  THE  NORTH  &TAR 

other  officers  with  whom  I  had  to  do  could  not  have  been 
more  obliging  and  polite  than  they  were  to  me,  when  they 
found  that  I  was  an  unprotected  lady  travelling  alone. 
It  was  very  hot,  and  the  gentlemen  regretted  that  I 
should  have  so  much  trouble,  and  in  my  journeys  from  one 
office  to  another,  one  of  the  first  officials  always  accompa- 
nied me,  and  if  he  could  spare  me  any  errand,  he  did  so. 

The  English,  in  spite  of  their  apparent  coldness  and 
their  many  strict  customs,  are  an  honourable,  noble  race, 
and  I  met  with  the  kindest  and  most  warm-hearted 
friends  amongst  them  wherever  I  went.  The  German 
consul  much  regretted  that  he  could  do  nothing  for  my 
journey  on  English  railways.  For  this,  however,  I  was 
prepared  before  I  came  to  India,  and  I  therefore  took  no 
steps  to  obtain  a  free  journey.  However,  Consul  Schmidt, 
who  had  heard  of  the  object  of  my  collection,  sent  me  fifty 
rupees  through  Messrs.  Wolff,  Wilmar  &  Co.  For  this  sum 
I  subsequently  bought  some  delicate  specimens  of  sandal- 
wood  work  in  Bombay,  which  were  afterwards  sold  in 
Germany  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  soldiers  and  widows 
of  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  bringing  in  double  the  sum 
which  Consul  Schmidt  had  presented  to  me. 

Many  of  my  cases  were  not  so  well  packed  as  I  could 
have  wished,  and  I  now  repacked  them.  To  do  this  I  had 
to  go  on  board  the  steamer  Quito,  which  was  to  sail  for 
Bremen  in  a  few  days,  and  take  my  Oriental  treasures 
home.  I  did  my  work  in  the  broiling  heat  of  the 
Bun,  and  every  one  who  saw  me  warned  me  of  the 
danger  of  a  sunstroke.  But  I  could  not  rest  satisfied 
without  seeing  to  the  packing  myself,  and  with  the 
help  of  the  carpenter  of  the  steamer  Quito,  who  opened 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  51 

and  nailed  down  the  cases,  I  had  soon  finished.  The 
steersman,  a  very  obliging  Englishman,  numbered  all  the 
cases  and  painted  my  name  on  them,  and  two  months  later 
they  all  arrived  in  good  condition,  and  free  of  cost,  at 
Bremen,  care  of  Mr.  Claussen,  the  agent  of  my  kind 
friends  in  Calcutta. 

Messrs.  Wolff,  Wilmar  &  Co.  recommended  me  to  their 
agents  at  both  Agra  and  Delhi.  His  Grace  the  Eight 
Reverend  Archbishop  "Walter  Steins,  to  whom  I  thought 
it  useless  to  complain  of  my  disagreeable  experience  in  the 
Convent  XL,  gave  me  letters  of  recommendation  to  all  the 
ecclesiastics  and  the  Ladies  Superior  in  India,  under  his 
apostolic  seal.  He  treated  me  as  nobly  as  did  his 
fellow-countrymen  in  Java.  A  more  stately-looking  man 
than  the  Roman  Catholic  Archbishop  of  Calcutta  I  have 
never  seen,  and  the  Holy  Father  in  Rome  himself  cannot 
have  a  more  dignified  bearing  than  his  Grace  "Walter 
Steins. 

The  sweet  and  beautiful  Lady  Superior,  in  acknowledge- 
ment of  all  my  suffering  and  fasting  in  her  convent,  pre- 
sented me  with  a  little  picture  and  a  medal  of  the  Holy 
Virgin.  She  told  me  I  was  very  good  and  sincere,  and  that 
she  loved  me  for  my  straightforward  conduct.  The  beau- 
tiful woman  and  all  the  nuns  kissed  me  at  parting,  said 
that  they  would  pray  for  me,  and  begged  that  I  would  do 
the  same  for  them,  to  which  request,  however,  I  made  no 
positive  promise. 

On  the  evening  of  the  sixth  of  March,  I  left  Calcutta  by 
express  train.  At  the  station  I  met  Mr.  Hardenfeldt,  of 
the  firm  of  Wolff,  Wilmar  &  Co.,  who  was  good  enough 
to  see  about  my  ticket,  luggage,  &c.  I  was  very  glad  to 


52  THE  NORTH  STAR 

have  met  as  kind  and  sympathetic  fellow-countrymen  in 
Calcutta  as  in  Batavia.  I  once  more  sent  my  thanks 
through  Mr.  H.  to  the  head  of  the  firm,  and  set  off  to 
Benares,  the  sacred  city  of  the  Hindus,  with  a  mind  at 
ease. 

It  seemed  strange  to  me  to  be  again  travelling  by  rail, 
for  since  I  had  left  America,  I  had  not  seen  a  single  steam- 
engine.  This  was  a  change,  however,  which  soon  lost  its 
charm  in  the  hot  climate  of  India.  The  heat  and  dust  in 
the  close  prison  of  the  carriage  were  extremely  oppressive, 
and  I  often  longed  for  a  breath  of  cool  air  on  the  pure 
fresh  ocean.  The  direct  line  through  East  India,  from 
Calcutta  to  Bombay,  is  1500  miles  in  extent;  and  by 
express  train  the  peninsula  may  be  traversed  in  three  days 
and  three  nights  from  one  end  to  the  other. 

The  railways  of  India  are  the  worst  on  which  I  ever 
travelled,  and  I  heard  many  complaints  against  the  Anglo- 
Indian  railway  companies. 

First-class  carriages  in  India  are  not  as  good  as  second- 
class  in  Germany,  and  there  are  no  sleeping-rooms  or  other 
comforts  requisite  in  a  hot  climate.  The  wealthy  company 
will  have  to  be  more  generous  than  it  is  now,  and  to 
improve  many  things,  before  it  will  please  the  travelling 
public.  At  the  time  of  the  year  there  was  nothing  much 
to  admire  in  the  vegetation  of  the  districts  through  which 
I  travelled ;  plants  and  grass  were  neither  alive  nor  dead, 
neither  green  nor  decayed.  All  nature  betrayed  signs  of 
a  long  drought,  and  the  exhausted  earth  was  evidently 
languishing  for  a  refreshing  rain. 

Sometimes  I  saw  the  golden  tops  of  ripe  rice,  or  the 
white  leaves  of  the  poppy.  The  only  beauties  of  the 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  55 

route  were  the  mango-trees,  then  in  flower,  the  artificially 
irrigated  rose  gardens,  and  the  green  ivy,  creepers  of 
which  climbed  over  the  windows  of  all  the  houses,  whilst 
the  proud  rose,  the  queen  of  flowers,  was  the  ornament  of 
every  garden. 

The  chief  productions  between  Calcutta  and  Benares  are 
rice,  millet,  opium,  cotton,  bananas,  tamarinds  and  mangos. 

After  a  journey  of  twenty-six  hours  I  reached  Benares, 
the  sacred  city  of  the  Hindus,  on  the  banks  of  the  equally 
sacred  river  Ganges.  My  recommendation  there  was  to 
an  amiable  English  lady,  whose  husband  was  stationed  at 
Benares,  and  who  had  come  from  cool  England  to  the 
fiery  sanctum  of  the  Hindus  but  three  months  before, 
bringing  with  her  two  rosy-cheeked  little  daughters. 

The  good  lady  received  me  with  every  kindness ;  she 
saw  how  exhausted  I  was,  and  had  a  cooling  bath  prepared 
for  me.  After  that  I  partook  of  some  refreshment,  and 
then,  as  I  had  not  slept  for  two  nights,  I  went  to  lie  down. 
On  account  of  the  great  heat,  the  whole  house  was  dark- 
ened, all  the  doors  and  shutters  being  kept  closed  during 
the  day.  I  soon  fell  asleep,  and  slept  from  nine  o'clock 
in  the  morning  until  six  in  the  evening. 

The  next  day  Mr.  Thompson  showed  me  everything 
worth  seeing  in  the  holy  city.  First  we  drove  to  the 
principal  temple  of  Siva,  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges. 
From  there  we  went  to  the  temple  of  Doorga.  A  whole 
troop  of  monkeys  were  clambering  from  the  gateway  of 
the  building  to  the  top  of  the  tower.  From  every  niche  of 
the  lofty  temple-walls  protruded  the  outstretched  paws  and 
the  dangling  tails  of  these  horrible  animals.  We  were  not 
admitted  to  the  temple,  but  the  entrance  to  it  was  so 


54  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

dirty  that  1  had  no  strong  wish  to  see  the  interior.  A 
number  of  Hindu  men  and  women,  their  faces,  hands,  and 
clothes  smeared  with  blood,  were  sitting  between  high 
baskets  of  ivy  and  flowers,  weaving  wreaths  and  hanging 
them  over  their  blood-stained  breasts  and  shoulders. 
During  this  fantastic  and  repulsive  flower-work  they  sang 
mad  songs,  shouted  enthusiastically  to  the  monkeys  above 
them,  and  every  now  and  then  smeared  themselves  with 
blood,  which  was  kept  in  a  pot  standing  in  the  midst  of 
the  flowers.  The  sacred  monkeys  are  to  the  people  of 
Benares  the  living  representatives  of  the  god  Doorga. 
In  one  temple  the  god  worshipped  is  a  black  stone ;  in 
another  monkeys  are  the  objects  of  devotion.  "Which  sym- 
bol does  my  reader  call  the  most  absurd  ?  The  ugly  mon- 
keys, as  I  can  myself  bear  witness,  are  held  in  the  highest 
esteem  in  Benares. 

Siva,  as  my  companion  told  me,  when  we  were  in  a 
temple  dedicated  to  him,  is  the  symbol  of  destruction  and 
reproduction.  But  if  Siva  is  nothing  more  than  what  I 
heard  him  to  be,  he  is  a  very  unimportant  god.  His  wife, 
Kali,  is  a  savage  goddess,  who  brings  the  human  race 
nothing  but  evil.  Her  offspring,  which  are  also  included 
in  the  category  of  Hindu  gods,  are  but  miserable  abortions 
of  weak  and  deformed  deities. 

Siva  and  Kali  are  esteemed  and  honoured  by  the  Brah- 
mins according  to  the  value  of  the  materials  which  their 
temples  and  the  idols  themselves  are  constructed.  A 
golden  Siva  is,  in  their  opinion,  a  higher  god  than  one  of 
silver  or  bronze,  so  that  the  character  of  the  god  is  of  little 
account. 

The  cupola  and  towers  of  the  temple  of  Siva  are  of 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  55 

molten  gold.  Through  the  open  door,  in  the  centre  of  the 
paved  floor,  Mr.  T.  showed  me  a  black  stone,  about  ten 
inches  in  diameter,  representing  the  god  Siva.  The  num- 
ber of  pilgrims  was  considerable ;  many  brought  rose- 
water  and  other  perfumes,  and  poured  them  over  the  black 
stone  —  over  the  god  Siva. 

Siva  appeared  to  me  a  very  poor  and  insignificant 
god ;  Kali,  his  savage  wife,  I  never  saw ;  she  did  not 
come  in  my  way  in  India,  so  that  I  did  not  make  her 
acquaintance. 

Three  beautiful  white  sacred  cows  were  walking  about 
in  the  temple  of  Siva,  wearing  tastefully-woven  garlands 
of  orange  leaves  and  lotus  flowers,  and  eating  the  ivy  and 
lotus  leaves  thrown  to  them  with  great  relish. 

Benares,  bearing  the  imposing  title  of  the  "  sacred  city 
of  the  Hindus,"  did  not  interest  me  as  I  expected  it  would 
have  done.  I  there  witnessed  the  worship  of  Buddha  in 
its  most  degraded  and  shameful  form.  Sarnath,  a  suburb 
of  Benares,  is  the  birthplace  of  Buddha,  where  stood  his 
cradle  2400  years  ago.  If  it  had  not  been  too  hot,  I  should 
have  visited  the  site  of  Buddha's  home. 

Mr.  T.  took  me  to  Queen's  College,  an  institute  for 
natives,  under  the  superintendence  of  English  professors. 
The  gentleman  who  conducted  us  over  the  building  and 
through  the  classes  of  aspirants,  who  were  all  natives,  gave 
me  a  very  useful  book,  containing  the  best  information  re- 
specting Benares  and  Sarnath. 

Buddha,  according  to  tradition,  was  an  Indian  prince. 
He  left  the  pleasures  of  the  world,  renounced  crown  and 
sceptre,  kingdom,  honours,  and  friends,  and  lived  for  five 
years  in  the  greatest  seclusion.  By  the  constant  practice 


56  THE  NORTH  STAR 

of  virtue  and  the  strictest  self-abnegation  he  attained  to 
the  perfection  of  a  supreme  god  and  became  the  redeemer 
of  mankind.  After  five  years  of  the  most  solitary  and 
holy  life,  he  commenced  his  teaching  in  Sarnath,  the  place 
where  he  was  born.  His  divine  truth  spread  through  the 
whole  of  the  East,  and  he  redeemed  the  fourth  part  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  whole  world.  His  saving  doctrines 
will,  according  to  prophecy,  spread  farther,  and  farther, 
and  finally  redeem  all  mankind. 

But  the  pure  and  holy  teaching  of  Buddha  left  not  the 
slightest  trace  of  purity  and  holiness  behind  it  in  the  place 
where  it  was  first  preached. 

What  representatives  of  Buddha  are  Siva  and  his  wild 
wife  Kali  or  Doorga  !  What  monster  apes  introduce  ua 
to  the  poor  Buddha  of  whom  I  had  heard  so  many  pretty 
things  in  Japan,  China,  and  the  Eastern  Archipelago ! 
How  much  dishonoured  is  the  prophet  and  redeemer  in  his 
own  fatherland ! 

When  I  visited  the  church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  in 
Jerusalem,  some  months  later,  and  witnessed  the  lawless- 
ness which  is  tolerated  and  practised  in  the  holiest  place 
of  the  Christians,  my  thoughts  flew  back  to  Benares,  the 
sacred  city  of  the  Hindus.  Sarnath,  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Benares,  was  the  birthplace  of  the  redeemer 
Buddha,  who,  as  people  say,  redeemed  the  eastern  world, 
and  in  Benares,  the  true  Buddha  is  altogether  ignored  and 
forgotten. 

Bethlehem,  near  Jerusalem,  was  the  birthplace  of  our 
Redeemer,  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  But  is  there  one 
spot  in  western  Christendom  where  the  birthplace 
and  death  of  the  Saviour  of  the  Christians  are  more 


AND    THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  57 

shamefully  dishonoured,  more  shamefully  desecrated, 
and  where  His  divine  teachings  are  more  ignored  than  in 
the  scene  of  His  sufferings  and  death  in  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  and  in  the  City  of  Jerusalem  ?  Corruption  in 
the  East ;  corruption  in  the  West ! 

On  the  third  day  I  bade  Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  farewell ;  the 
dear  lady  gave  me  an  Indian  present  in  remembrance  of 
her ;  and  her  little  daughter  of  three  years  old  presented 
me  with  a  fine  bouquet  and  the  photographs  of  papa, 
mamma,  baby,  and  herself,  telling  me  that  she  would  not 
forget  Miss  Weppner. 

I  started  in  the  cool  of  the  evening,  and  the  whole 
family  accompanied  me  to  the  station  in  a  large  open 
carriage.  I  held  the  pretty  smiling  baby  on  my  knee, 
and  it  played  with  the  roses  and  flowers  its  little  sister 
had  given  me.  I  had  often  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet 
with  happy  mothers  and  innocent  babies.  It  was  part  of 
my  very  nature  to  attach  myself  only  too  quickly  and 
warmly  to  pure  true  souls,  and  I  often  took  leave  of  them 
with  tears.  God  protect  the  good  friends  who  received 
me  so  kindly ;  God  bless  the  dear  little  ones ! 

Mrs.  T.  gave  me  a  letter  of  introduction  to  friends  in 
Lucknow,  and  I  went  by  night  via  train  from  Allahabad 
to  Cawnpore.  At  a  principal  station  I  was  told  there  was 
a  restaurant,  and  time  would  be  allowed  for  supper.  I 
went  to  the  place  pointed  out,  and  had  hardly  sat  down 
when  Messrs.  Palmer  and  Curtis  walked  in,  whom  I  had 
not  seen  since  our  arrival  in  Calcutta.  We  had  a  very 
pleasant  meeting,  and  again  parted,  as  the  gentlemen 
were  not  travelling  by  the  same  route  as  myself. 


58  THE  NORTH  STAR 

I  reached  Cawnpore  before  the  break  of  day,  and 
travelled  by  a  branch  line  to  Lucknow,  where  I  arrived 
beneath  the  broiling  sun.  My  introduction  there  was  to  a 
Portuguese  family,  and  I  became  acquainted  with  a  vener- 
able old  gentleman  and  his  beautiful  young  daughter, 
whose  mother  had  been  killed  in  her  own  house  by  a  ball 
from  the  enemy  during  the  massacre  of  1857. 

The  good  old  gentleman  was  full  of  kindness  to  his 
guest,  and  as  he  knew  all  that  was  worth  seeing  in  the 
town,  and  had  himself  gone  through  all  the  horrible 
scenes  of  the  late  deeds  of  blood,  the  opportunity  was 
afforded  me  of  obtaining  the  most  reliable  information 
respecting  the  old  royal  city  and  its  recent  history.  But 
many  English  and  other  authors  have  already  written 
so  much  about  India,  that  it  would  be  presumptuous  and 
intrusive  on  my  part  if  I,  a  mere  passing  traveller,  were 
to  attempt  to  describe  the  recent  horrors  in  Lucknow 
and  other  Indian  towns.  In  what  I  say  here  I  am  but 
making  the  fugitive  remarks  of  a  traveller  on  the  way  to 
the  greatest  pillars  of  the  universe :  the  chief  aim  of 
my  journey  to  India  was  to  see  the  glorious  Himalaya 
mountains.  My  good  host  took  me  to  all  the  places  of 
importance  in  the  history  of  ancient  and  modern  Lucknow. 
"We  went  to  the  English  cemetery,  where  rest  many 
gallant  Britons,  and  he  showed  me  the  battleground 
of  the  last  massacre,  the  mound  of  the  dead  and 
the  monument  to  the  brave  warriors.  He  related  to 
me  many  of  the  heartrending  deeds  of  blood  of  the  cruel 
Sepoys.  One  of  the  greatest  works  of  modern  times  is 
the  "  Imperial  Bagh  "  at  Lucknow,  which  was  built  during 
the  reign  of  the  last  king  of  Oude,  between  the  years 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  59 

1848  and  1850.  The  building,  with  the  internal  decora- 
tions and  fittings,  &c.,  cost  eighty  lacs  of  rupees.  This 
lavish  profusion  is  a  proof  that  the  last  King  of  Oude  was 
one  of  the  selfish  despots  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and 
that  his  poor  subjects  were  blind  fanatical  slaves,  who,  no 
doubt,  had  to  work  hard  to  satisfy  the  extravagance  of 
their  king. 

Kaiser  (Csesar)  is  one  of  the  titles  assumed  by  the  rulers 
of  the  kingdom  of  Oude,  and  the  word  is  used  on  the 
royal  seals. 

On  the  third  day  my  worthy  host  and  his  amiable 
daughter  accompanied  me  to  the  station,  and  I  continued 
my  journey  to  Agra  via  Cawnpore. 

When  I  arrived  there  the  sun  was  at  its  zenith,  and  the 
glare  was  so  great  that  I  felt  quite  giddy  when  I  stepped 
from  the  carriage  into  the  open  air.  In  spite  of  the 
enervating  and  exhausting  heat,  the  English  officials  were 
everywhere  very  obliging.  The  station-master  happened 
to  be  on  the  platform,  and  when  he  noticed  that  I  was 
alone  he  came  and  asked  me  if  I  required  a  carriage.  I 
said  yes,  and  he  conducted  me  himself,  under  a  fearful 
sun,  to  a  comfortable  carriage,  and  told  the  coachman 
where  I  wished  to  go. 

As  I  did  not  know  whether  the  agent  of  Messrs.  Wolff, 
"Wilmar  &  Co.,  of  Calcutta,  to  whom  I  had  an  introduc- 
tion, was  a  married  man,  I  drove  first,  although  reluctantly, 
to  the  French  convent. 

I  gave  the  woman  who  opened  the  door  the  letter  from 
his  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Calcutta,  and  asked  for  an 
interview  with  the  Lady  Superior.  I  must  confess  that  I 
was  afraid  of  again  entering  a  convent  as  a  guest,  for  I 


60  THE  NORTH  STAJK 

dreaded  the  strict  rules  and  peculiarities  and  especially 
those  of  the  fasting  season,  which  had  but  just  com- 
menced. I  never  again  met  with  such  a  far-sighted, 
sensible,  and  liberal  Lady  Superior  as  the  one  with  whom 
I  became  acquainted  in  the  Dutch  convent  of  Batavia.  I 
therefore  preferred,  when  I  was  able  to  do  so,  to  turn  to 
happy  families,  where  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  dear 
mothers  and  sweet  babies,  rather  than  to  go  to  convents, 
which  I  only  did  when  I  was  short  of  recommendation  to 
families,  in  order  to  have  a  respectable  abode  and  to  avoid 
going  to  hotels. 

The  Lady  Superior,  in  the  present  instance,  was  at 
prayer  in  the  chapel,  and  let  me  wait  a  good  hour  for  an 
answer.  The  Hindu  coachman  informed  me  that  the 
burning  sun  was  bad  for  the  horses.  In  the  oppres- 
sively hot  carriage  I  suffered  greatly  from  giddiness,  and 
as  I  was  about  to  ring  at  the  bell  of  the  convent  for  the 
third  time,  I  lost  consciousness  and  fell  upon  the  steps 
The  coachman  came  to  my  assistance,  and  helped  me  up. 
I  thought  it  was  very  unmerciful  to  let  me  wait  so  long, 
for  the  nuns  knew  well  enough  how  hot  it  was.  I  pitied 
the  poor  animals,  and  I  offered  the  coachman  his  money 
that  he  might  drive  them  to  a  cooler  place.  In  that  very 
moment,  however,  after  I  had  waited  an  hour  and  a  half, 
the  Lady  Superior  appeared,  and  told  me  that  the  Arch- 
bishop's recommendation  was  very  strong,  and  she  was 
very  pleased  to  see  me.  The  Bishop  of  Agra,  however, 
who  was  shortly  expected  back  from  the  Council  at 
Home,  had  established  a  rule  that  no  lady  belonging  to 
the  laity,  who  was  not  a  pupil  of  the  Institution,  should 
spend  the  night  at  the  convent.  But  during  the  absence 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  61 

of  the  Bishop,  he  had  entrusted  the  superintendence  of 
the  convent  to  the  Rev.  Father  Seraphim.  She  had  no 
doubt,  she  said,  that  that  gentleman  would  give  permis- 
sion for  me  to  be  received  after  he  had  the  recommenda- 
tion from  the  Archbishop  of  Calcutta,  and  she  advised  me 
to  go  myself  to  the  Rev.  Father  Seraphim,  and  hand  the 
letter  of  his  Grace  to  him. 

The  good,  patient  coachman  drove  me  there ;  Father 
Seraphim,  a  Frenchman,  read  the  lines  in  my  favour  from 
the  archbishop,  and  told  me  in  the  most  friendly  words 
that  I  could  be  the  guest  of  the  Institution.  But,  he 
added,  it  was  the  most  emphatic  and  strict  command  of. 
the  absent  bishop  that  no  lady  belonging  to  the  laity 
should  enter  the  convent,  and  he  would  therefore  see  that 
I  had  a  comfortable  room  in  the  front  building  of  the 
Institution.  The  Father  then  said  I  should  drive  back  to 
the  gate  of  the  convent,  and  he  would  follow  me  immedi- 
ately, so  the  coachman  drove  me  back  from  the  convent 
of  the  monks  to  that  of  the  nuns,  which  are  quite  near  to 
each  other,  and  are  only  divided  by  a  wall. 

To  my  astonishment  the  Rev.  Father  Seraphim  arrived 
before  me.  He  had  come  through  a  passage  of  communi- 
cation which  leads  from  the  convent  of  the  monks  to  that 
of  the  nuns.  Father  Seraphim  and  the  Lady  Superior 
were  standing  at  the  gate  of  the  convent,  and  led  me  into 
a  large  room,  which  was  to  be  my  bedroom ;  and  adjoin- 
ing which  was  a  spacious  reception  room,  also  at  my  dis- 
posal. The  Hindu  servants  carried  in  my  box,  and  I  gave 
the  coachman,  who  had  had  to  wait  so  long,  a  gratuity  in 
addition  to  his  fare,  and  told  him  to  get  himself  and  his 
poor  horses  a  good  supper. 


62  THE  NORTH  STAR 

To  my  horror  I  now  found  that  there  was  no  one  in 
the  large  front  buildhig  but  some  half-dozen  native  watch- 
men, and  with  them  I  was  left  quite  alone.  This  was 
a  new  experience ;  and  it  was  no  flattering  feeling  for  me 
that  I,  as  a  lay-woman,  was  not  worthy  to  enter  the  sanc- 
tum of  the  nuns.  For  all  that,  however,  I  was  not  conscious 
of  anything  for  which  my  soul  had  reason  to  be  ashamed, 
and  I  hope  that  God  in  heaven  will  have  more  mercy  on 
non-ecclesiastical  women  than  the  Catholic  Bishop  of  Agra 
in  the  East  Indies. 

Presently  a  nun  came  and  brought  me  some  supper, 
remarking  that  it  was  the  Catholic  fasting  season.  I 
started  at  these  words,  and  feared  I  should  fare  the  same 
here  as  I  had  done  in  Calcutta.  Lent,  as  I  have  person- 
ally experienced,  is  the  most  unfavourable  time  to  be 
the  guest  of  a  Catholic  convent.  The  monks  and  nuns, 
I  presume,  do  not  like  fasting  themselves,  and  are  anxious 
to  find  some  one  to  do  it  for  them. 

But  unfortunately  and  fortunately  it  was  even  hotter 
in  Agra  than  in  Calcutta,  so  that  what  was  given  to  me 
to  eat,  with  conscious  consideration  for  the  sacred  season 
of  fasting,  was  enough  to  content  me  in  the  intense 
heat,  which  had  lessened  my  appetite  considerably. 
The  Rev.  Father  Seraphim  asked  me  what  he  could  do 
for  me,  and  I  begged  him  to  forward  the  letter  which 
had  been  given  to  me  by  Messrs.  WoLff,  Wilmar  &  Co.. 
of  Calcutta,  to  their  agent,  Mr.  Edward  Ball,  in  Agra. 
The  title  of  the  firm  in  Agra  was  Kohn,  Feilheim 
&  Co.,  one  of  the  most  important  European  firms  in 
India. 

When  I  gave  the  Rev.  Father  Seraphim  the  letter,  he 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  63 

read  the  address,  and  I  noticed  that  he  suddenly  changed 
colour,  but  why,  I  did  not  know. 

An  hour  later,  a  light  cabriolet  drove  to  the  gate  of 
the  convent,  and  a  gentleman  gave  his  card  to  a  servant. 
I  had  him  shown  into  the  reception-room,  and  a  few 
moments  later  we  made  each  other's  acquaintance.  Mr. 
Ball,  for  it  was  he,  told  me  it  would  give  him  great 
pleasure  to  comply  with  the  wishes  of  Messrs.  Wolff  and 
Wilmar,  and  he  would  show  me  everything  in  Agra  of 
interest  to  strangers.  I  explained  to  him  that  I  only 
intended  to  remain  three  days  in  Agra,  and  he  therefore 
arranged  that  we  should  make  our  first  excursion  the  next 
morning. 

Directly  after  the  cabriolet  of  the  young  gentleman 
had  stopped  at  the  gate,  some  nuns  had  come  through 
the  long  garden  into  the  front  building,  and  it  astonished 
me  to  see  that  they  were  walking  up  and  down  the 
passage,  purposely  listening  to  all  that  passed  between 
us.  The  Englishman  was  a  fine-looking  man,  and  I 
thought  the  sight  of  a  handsome  layman  was  a  pleasant 
change  for  the  poor  nuns.  But  in  this  1  did  injustice 
to  the  good  women;  they  had  left  the  sanctum  of  the 
convent  for  another  reason.  The  Rev.  Father  Seraphim 
had  forwarded  my  letter  to  the  Englishman,  and  from 
him  the  Lady  Superior  and  the  nuns  knew  whom  I 
expected.  I  noticed  that  Mr.  Ball  had  something  par- 
ticular to  say  to  me;  but  the  observation  of  the  nuns, 
who  carried  on  their  promenade  in  the  corridor,  close 
to  the  open  drawing-room  door,  prevented  him  from 
doing  so.  At  last  he  wished  me  good  evening,  mounted 
his  cabriolet^  and  drove  rapidly  away.  I  had  hardly 


64  THE  NORTH  STAR 

returned  to  my  room,  when  the  Rev.  Father  Seraphim 
and  the  Lady  Superior  came  in.  They  seated  themselves, 
and  told  me  in  a  most  significant  manner  who  this  "  dread- 
ful young  man  "  was.  He  was  a  Protestant,  and  had  a 
beautiful  young  sister,  who  had  married  an  advocate 
in  Agra  a  few  years  before,  and  was,  as  I  learnt  from  her 
brother  the  next  day,  very  happy  with  him.  But  this 
sister  had  been  stolen  from  the  convent  by  her  brother, 
and  he  had  prevented  her  from  becoming  a  Catholic  and 
a  nun. 

The  brother  and  sister  had  lost  their  parents  when  very 
young ;  but  an  uncle  had  charge  of  their  property,  and 
looked  after  their  education.  As  there  was  no  Protestant 
school  in  that  neighbourhood,  the  uncle  entrusted  the 
young  lady  to  the  Catholic  nuns  of  the  convent  of  St. 
Marie,  in  the  front  building  of  which  I  was  staying  when 
this  little  romance  was  related.  In  a  short  time  the  eccle- 
siastical ladies  had  so  far  won  the  youthful  heart  of  their 
beautiful  pupil,  that  she  professed  herself  ready  to  become 
a  Catholic  and  take  the  veil.  There  could  be  no  doubt 
that  her  property  would  at  the  same  time  be  transferred 
to  the  convent. 

The  brother,  who  noticed  the  growing  coldness  and  the 
increasing  bigotry  of  his  sister,  and  learnt  from  herself 
what  she  had  determined  to  do,  decided  on  a  bold  step. 
Accompanied  by  his  uncle,  he  went  to  the  convent,  and 
the  two  asked  to  see  their  young  relative.  The  Lady 
Superior  and  a  staff  of  nuns  brought  the  sister  and  niece 
to  her  brother  and  uncle,  and  that  in  the  very  same  room 
in  which  I  met  Mr.  Ball,  the  hero  of  this  little  episode, 
for  the  first  time. 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  65 

During  the  conversation,  the  Lady  Superior  discovered 
what  was  the  object  of  their  visit,  and  she  made  a  secret 
sign  to  the  young  lady  to  come  and  follow  her.  This 
sign  was  not,  however,  lost  upon  the  watchful  brother ; 
and  as  his  beautiful  sister  was  about  leaving  the  room  in 
obedience  to  the  gesture  of  the  Lady  Superior,  the  strong 
and  loving  brother  suddenly  took  her  in  his  arms.  The 
uncle  protected  him  and  his  charge  against  the  enraged 
nuns,  and  the  brother  carried  her  through  the  corridor, 
down  to  the  gate,  and  into  his  carriage.  The  beautiful 
young  lady  was  gone,  and  with  her  her  beautiful  money ; 
both  were  lost  to  the  convent.  The  good  brother  and  her 
other  relatives  soon  brought  the  young  lady  to  reason ; 
and  she  is  now  the  wife  of  a  gentleman  of  good  position, 
and  the  happy  mother  of  several  pretty  children. 
The  little  history  which  I  have  here  only  briefly  related, 
played  at  the  time  of  its  occurrence  an  important  part  in 
the  English  newspapers  of  India.  The  Rev.  Father 
Seraphim  and  Lady  Superior  complained  to  me  that 
the  young  gentleman  and  his  uncle  had  compromised  the 
convent  and  all  the  nuns.  The  heroic  brother,  who  now 
visited  me  as  the  guest  of  the  convent,  could  not,  there- 
fore, be  a  very  welcome  visitor.  The  nuns  who  had  come 
through  the  long  garden  to  the  passage  in  the  front 
building,  had  done  so,  less  to  see  the  handsome  gentleman 
than  to  listen  to  what  he  said  to  me.  Under  the  circum- 
stances it  was  natural  that  the  ecclesiastical  ladies  should 
take  every  possible  means  to  make  me  share  their  hatred 
of  the  young  Protestant  gentleman,  my  cicerone  in  Agra. 

Mr.  Ball  therefore  offered  to  take  me  to  his  sister ;  but 
as  I  was  only  going  to  remain  three  days  in  Agra,  I 
YOL.  n.  5 


66  THE  NORTH  STAR 

thought  it  more  advisable  to  leave  the  convent  in  peace, 
and  I  managed  to  offend  neither  party. 

The  first  morning  Mr.  Ball  escorted  me  to  the  mausoleum 
of  King  Akbar,  at  Secundra,  eight  miles  distant  from 
Agra.  Passing  along  a  fine  road,  between  ruins  of 
mighty  palaces  and  handsome  tombs,  we  came  to  the 
stately  entrance  of  a  fine  garden,  bounded  on  the  north, 
south,  east,  and  west  by  lofty  portals.  From  each  of 
these  four  portals  a  broad  and  finely-paved  garden-path, 
with  beautiful  palm,  orange,  mango  and  banana  trees  on 
either  side,  leads  to  a  platform  of  dazzling  whiteness, 
about  400  feet  in  diameter.  At  the  end  of  each  crossway 
are  large  artificial  tanks,  and  fountains  in  play.  In  the 
centre  of  this  elegant  platform  a  lofty  pyramidal 
mausoleum,  one  hundred  feet  high,  rises  in  regular 
gradations.  The  elevation  forms  five  separate  terraces, 
and  along  each  terrace  runs  a  towering  gallery,  on  the 
summit  of  which,  on  beautiful  pillars,  rest  a  row  of  proud 
cupolas.  The  ground  of  the  highest  terrace  is  of  the 
finest  white  marble,  that  of  the  others  of  red  sandstone. 
On  the  top  of  the  mausoleum,  Mr.  Ball  pointed  out  to  me 
a  little  marble  pavilion  with  a  gilded  dome,  in  the  middle 
of  which,  on  an  artistically  carved  sepulchral  monument, 
the  ninety-nine  names  of  the  invisible  god  are  engraved 
in  rich  scroll-work  in  fine  Arabic  writing.  At  each 
corner  of  the  marble  terrace  are  two  marble  turrets, 
standing  side  by  side,  with  small,  round  gilded  towers. 
An  artistically  carved  marble  screen,  divided  into  separate 
panels,  runs  round  the  edge  of  the  marble  terrace  ;  each 
separate  piece  of  carving  displaying  a  different  fine-art 
pattern. 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  6? 

Close  by,  the  holy  river  Jumna  flowed  along  in  sacred 
quietude ;  and  through  the  tops  of  the  trees  glittered  the 
spire  of  the  French  cathedral  near  the  convent,  the  front 
building  of  which  was  then  my  home ;  but  the  town  of 
Agra  was  hidden  by  the  thick  foliage  of  the  wood. 
In  another  direction  glowed  in  the  gold  and  purple 
of  the  dawn  a  vast  silver-white  cloud,  the  majestic  mass 
hovering  lightly,  and  extending  from  the  green  earth  to 
the  horizon.  Glancing  sunbeams  danced  in  the  clear 
blue  air ;  the  cloud  rocked  softly  up  and  down,  tinged 
by  Aurora's  beams  with  blue  and  red ;  and  when  the  sun 
rose  clear  in  the  heavens  the  distant  cloud  trembled  in 
a  glow  of  the  tenderest  rose-colour.  I  gazed  steadfastly 
at  the  huge  mass,  which  acquired  ever  fresh  beauty,  and 
was  like  a  fairy  castle  resting  in  the  arms  of  the  free 
breezes  of  heaven  above  the  green  landscape.  Full  of 
enthusiasm,  I  looked  back  again  and  again  and  I 
thought  of  all  the  fairy  tales  of  my  childhood  —  of  the 
"  Thousand  and  one  Nights,"  with  their  palaces  and 
castles  in  the  air,  which  chased  each  other  through  my 
excited  brain. 

"  That,"  said  my  companion,  "  is  the  '  Taj,'  that  white 
marble  building  with  the  lofty  cupola,  between  the  green 
trees  in  the  distance."  I  looked  at  it  again,  admired 
it,  and  rejoiced  in  its  silent  beauty.  "It  is  poetry  and 
enchantment  combined,"  I  said  at  last.  "  It  fills  me 
with  awe.  I  feel  captivated  by  the  distant  picture,  Mr. 
Ball,  and  you  must  not  take  me  to  the  '  Taj  '  until  I 
have  seen  everything;  for  I  fear  that  the  poetic  im- 
pression made  upon  me  by  the  picture  this  morning 
will  be  dispelled  by  close  approach  to  the  reality."  "  The 


68  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

reality,"  replied  Mr.  Ball,  "  will  not  disappoint  you ;  it 
will  but  add  yet  more  to  the  poetry  of  the  distant  view." 

It  was  with  difficulty  that  I  tore  myself  away  from 
the  glorious  scene,  and  we  descended  the  steps  of  the 
mausoleum.  A  long,  deep  passage  led  to  the  vault  of 
King  Akbar,  in  the  inside  of  the  building.  Through  a 
small  crevice  in  the  uppermost  dome,  a  faint  light  pene 
trates  into  the  dark  chamber ;  and  I  made  out  a  simple 
grave  in  the  form  of  a  sarcophagus.  A  garland  of  fresh 
flowers,  still  wet  with  morning  dew,  lay  above  the  quiet 
resting-place  of  the  once  powerful  king.  Beneath  this 
sarcophagus  lie  the  ashes  of  the  great  Akbar,  the 
successor  of  Tamerlane  (Timur),  and  predecessor  of  the 
emperor  Shah-Jehan,  the  wisest  and  most  powerful 
monarch  of  this  glorious  race.  The  grave  of  the  Begum 
Marie,  a  Portuguese  princess,  and  the  wife  of  King  Akbar, 
is  situated  a  little  distance  from  that  of  her  husband.  But 
this  grave  is  held  in  no  honour  whatever;  and  the 
building,  which  was  a  good  deal  injured  during  the 
massacre  of  1857,  is  now  used  as  a  chapel  by  the  Christian 
missionaries. 

I  was  most  gratified  with  my  first  excursion  in  Agra  ; 
and  the  next  day  Mr.  Ball  escorted  me  to  the  celebrated 
ruins  at  Futtehpore  Sikree,  once  the  magnificent  summer 
residence  of  King  Akbar.  In  order  not  to  suffer  too 
much  from  the  heat,  we  had  to  start  very  early.  "We 
had  good  brisk  horses,  and  reached  Futtehpore  Sikree, 
twenty-two  miles  from  Agra,  in  three  hours. 

At  the  end  of  a  row  of  red  sandstone  hillocks  some 
four  miles  long,  which  in  many  places  had  fallen,  or 
were  threatening  to  fall,  stretched  a  vast  field,  strewn 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS,  69 

with  the  ruins  of  walls,  terraces,  palaces  and  cupolas. 
At  the  entrance  towers  a  majestic  portal,  which  gives 
access  to  a  path  through  the  mighty  ruins  of  glorious 
days  gone  by,  leading  to  a  solitary  bungalow,  where  an 
old  Mussulman  received  us  with  a  friendly  salaam,  and 
offered  himself  as  a  guide. 

I  was  quite  astonished  at  the  extent  and  magnificence 
of  the  ruins  in  the  midst  of  which  we  were  now  standing. 
To  form  a  notion  of  the  glory  of  the  past  in  India,  one 
must  see  Futtehpore  Sikree.  The  ruins  at  Yuen-ming- 
yuen,  formerly  the  imperial  summer  palace  in  the  north 
of  China,  are  but  a  miniature  picture  compared  with  the 
ruined  summer  palace  of  King  Akbar. 

Palaces,  mosques,  countless  pavilions,  cupolas  and 
turrets,  some  entirely,  some  only  partially  ruined,  and 
others  still  perfectly  upright,  rose  from  this  wild  and  pic- 
turesque chaos.  Often  I  looked  across  a  perfect  sea  of 
ruins;  it  was  a  wildly  grand  picture  of  splendour  and 
desolation.  .Yet  this  singular  scene,  bathed  in  rays  of 
the  dazzling  Indian  sun,  awoke  no  feelings  of  genuine 
sorrow.  Not  a  cloud  upon  the  vast  expanse  of  heaven 
—  not  a  shadow  upon  earth.  Standing,  as  I  was,  beneath 
the  vertical  rays  of  the  glowing  orb,  I  had  never  seen  my 
shadow  so  small.  The  mighty  ruins  of  the  red  sand- 
stone buildings  —  here,  an  entire  wall  or  a  pavilion 
with  blue  towers  —  there,  a  portion  of  a  palace  with  a 
golden  cupola,  all  alike,  the  lofty  and  the  low,  were 
absolutely  shadowless,  and  glowed  in  the  scorching 
brightness  of  the  vertical  sun. 

The  spectacle  was  indescribably  grand,  and  all  sense 
of  gloom  or  of  desolation  was  lost  in  the  glory  of  the 


70  THE  NORTH  STAR 

sunbeams.  The  Mussulman  was  a  very  polite,  inde- 
fatigable escort,  whose  explanations  were  endless.  He 
wore  a  thin  white  robe,  and  the  end  of  his  white  turban 
hung  down  over  his  left  shoulder.  He  led  us  through 
an  endless  labyrinth  of  vestibules,  terraces,  ruined 
palaces,  tanks  and  wells,  and  in  this  wild  chaos  we  often 
stood  beneath  a  still  solid  roof  in  some  beautiful  corridor 
or  apartment.  Our  guide  showed  us  the  undestroyed 
residence  of  the  Christian  wife  of  King  Akbar,  where  we 
saw  the  finest  fresco  paintings,  and  in  the  different  niches 
above  the  towers  and  windows  I  saw  several  Christian 
pictures.  On  one  side  of  the  tower  of  the  palace  I 
noted  a  whole  company  of  Indian  gods  and  goddesses, 
and  an  elephant.  Near  the  Christian  palace  stand  the 
five  Mahal  palaces,  resting  on  as  many  quadrangular 
platforms,  rising  one  above  the  other  in  pyramidal  form, 
and  supported  by  sculptured  pillars.  Behind  these  build- 
ings the  Mussulman  showed  us  a  curious  labyrinth,  in 
which  the  ladies  of  the  emperor's  "zenana"  once  played  at 
hide  and  seek. 

Near  this  place,  and  amongst  a  heap  of  ruins,  stands  a 
well-preserved  chapel  with  fine  cupolas,  in  the  centre 
of  which  is  an  enormous  column,  adorned  with  the 
most  magnificent  sculptures.  At  the  four  corners  of 
the  chapel  are  four  little  terraces,  forming  a  square. 
According  to  history,  Akbar  held  consultations  with 
his  chief  counsellors  on  religion  and  science  in  this 
chapel.  Ascending  some  steps  we  entered  a  beautiful 
pavilion,  with  a  pyramidal  canopy  resting  on  four  pillars ; 
from  whence  we  inspected  the  palace  of  the  Sultan  of 
Constantinople  with  its  lavish  sculptured  decorations. 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  71 

All  that  I  have  hitherto  mentioned  stands  in  the  midst 
of  ruins ;  but  in  this  labyrinth  of  destroyed  buildings 
much  more  remains  which  I  cannot  describe.  I  saw  a 
whole  world  of  concentrated  art  in  this  chaos,  for  it 
includes  buildings  in  the  walls  of  which  there  is  not  an 
inch  of  undecorated  surface.  The  fine  sandstone  is  every- 
where sculptured  and  carved  with  so  infinite  a  variety  of 
artistic  designs,  that  I  called  them  a  "  Museum  of  exquisite 
patterns." 

Many  of  these  sculptured  works  are  as  well  preserved 
as  if  the  master  had  finished  his  task  but  yesterday. 

In  no  spot  in  the  world  had  I  seen  so  rich  a  collection 
of  the  productions  of  art  and  talent  as  amongst  the  ruins 
at  Futtehpore  Sikree ;  here  imagination  seems  to  have  been 
taxed  to  the  very  utmost  in  order  to  produce  new  combi- 
nations of  ornaments. 

But  this  favoured  spot  has  other  attractions  besides  fine 
ruins.  At  a  little  distance  from  the  wild  scene  of  desola- 
tion above  described,  a  lofty  staircase  leads  to  a  large  open 
court.  This  court  is  428  feet  long  by  406  wide,  and 
is  surrounded  by  a  peristyle  fifty  feet  high.  I  was  as 
much  astonished  at  the  beautiful  symmetry  and  magnifi- 
cent decoration  of  this  court,  as  at  the  peculiar  grandeur 
of  the  ruins  which  I  had  already  seen. 

On  one  side  of  the  corridor  is  an  imposing  gateway,  120 
feet  high,  above  which,  right  and  left,  rests  a  mosque 
with  three  towers.  In  front  of  the  gateway,  on  the  out- 
side of  the  court,  is  a  large  tank  with  a  fountain  in  the 
centre.  Opposite  to  the  gateway,  in  the  inside  of  the 
court,  is  the  mother-of-pearl  tomb,  in  which  the  Moslem 
Sheikh,  once  a  favourite  of  King  Akbar,  is  buried.  The 


72  THE  NORTH  STAB 

grave  is  under  a  canopy  six  feet  high  ;  and  the  material 
of  both  is  mother-of-pearl,  but  the  floor  of  the  tomb  is  of 
jasper,  and  the  walls  are  of  white  marble,  studded  with 
cornelians.  Upon  the  grave  lies  a  silken  shroud,  inter- 
woven with  gold.  Fresh  and  withered  flowers  lay  about 
in  profusion.  The  outer  wall  of  the  mausoleum  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  marble  screen,  which  is  considered  the  finest 
specimen  of  decorative  art  in  India. 

This  costly  tomb  is  moreover  adorned  with  rich  ivory 
pillars,  wreathed  with  garlands  of  wondrous  floral  designs 
and  with  marble  filigree-work.  The  entire  mausoleum  of 
the  holy  Moslem  Sheik  is  said  to  have  cost  350,000  pounds 
sterling. 

This  vast  court,  with  the  colossal  gateway  and  the  costly 
internal  structures,  presents  an  appearance  alike  grand 
and  artistic.  The  inside  of  the  Tuilleries  or  of  other 
princely  courts  of  Europe  sinks  into  insignificance  beside 
the  magnificence  of  this  building.  Close  to  the  colossal 
gateway  we  ascended  through  the  peristyle  on  the  right 
side  of  the  palace  of  Akbar,  and  from  thence  we  had  one 
of  the  finest  views  in  the  whole  world.  Before  us  was 
outspread  all  that  gold  or  silver,  intellect  or  art  could  create 
for  crowned  human  gods  —  all  that  envy  or  time  could 
destroy.  A  little  world  of  glory  and  greatness,  a  wilder- 
ness of  sumptuous  ruins,  a  museum  of  sculpture,  of  art 
and  talent ! 

We  descended  and  made  our  way  to  the  edge  of  the 
splendid  tank.  There  several  Hindu  boys  made  the  awful 
offer  to  jump  from  the  battlement  of  the  palace  into  the 
tank  for  a  reward  of  one  rupee.  I  turned  away,  as  I  did 
not  wish  to  see  it,  but  Mr.  Ball  offered  not  only  one  but  two 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  73 

rupees,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  reckless  boys  were  on  the 
high  roof  of  the  palace,  not  far  from  the  great  gateway ;  I 
saw  them  spring,  and  gave  a  loud  cry  —  but  they  were 
already  in  the  tank,  and  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  they 
had  dived,  risen  to  the  surface,  and,  swimming  to  the 
steep  steps  of  the  tank,  they  ran  up,  dripping,  and  came 
to  us  for  the  promised  fee.  As  they  started  on  their 
journey  through  the  air  from  the  roof  of  the  palace 
the  bold  boys  held  their  feet  wide  apart,  and  in  their 
precipitous  descent  they  had  the  presence  of  mind  to 
bring  their  feet  close  together  when  they  touched  the 
water. 

One  of  Mr.  Ball's  servants  prepared  a  good  meal  for  us 
in  a  cool  bungalow,  and  at  the  request  of  the  faithful  Mus- 
sulman who  had  conducted  us  over  these  romantic  scenes  I 
wrote  a  glowing  testimonial  for  him  in  his  note-book. 
After  dinner  he  took  us  to  the  Elephant  Gate,  at  the  foot 
of  the  mound  of  ruins.  On  a  fine  pedestal  on  either  side 
of  the  gate  reclines  a  colossal  elephant.  The  tower  is  90 
feet  high  and  is  studded  with  elephants'  tusks  from  the 
base  to  the  summit. 

Much  gratified  with  the  grand  sight  of  the  mighty  rums, 
we  left  Futtehpore  Sikree,  and  at  six  o'clock  I  stepped  into 
the  deserted  reception-room  of  the  front  building  of  the 
convent  of  St.  Marie.  Not  until  late  in  the  night,  when 
my  weary  eyelids  closed,  did  the  noble  ruins  of  Futtehpore 
Sikree  cease  to  haunt  my  busy  brain.  I  dreamt  of  palaces 
and  pavilions,  of  golden  cupolas  and  colossal  gateways,  and 
as  I  dreamt,  the  glowing  sunlight,  in  which  the  relics  of 
royal  glory  and  royal  dust  had  been  bathed  at  the  time  of 
my  visit,  was  replaced  by  dark  shadows  which  enveloped 


74  THE  NORTH  STAR 

everything  in  their  gloom  —  Futtehpore  Sikree  now  lay  in 
the  dark  bosom  of  black  Night. 

The  most  beautiful  work  ever  produced  by  human  skill 
was  reserved  for  the  third  day,  and  I  was  to  see  in 
reality  the  charming  ideal  picture,  the  vast  silver  white 
cloud,  which  had  so  fascinated  me  in  the  distance, 
when  viewed  from  the  heights  of  Secundra.  I  awaited 
the  hour  of  the  unveiling  of  the  magic  scene  with  deep 
and  solemn  awe;  my  spirit  anticipated  a  religious 
festival,  and  it  was  with  great  delight  that  I  received 
the  gallant  cavalier  who  was  to  escort  me.  The 
dawn  was  now  breaking,  and  our  gaily  caparisoned 
horses  sped  rapidly  along  in  the  cool  morning  air. 
Presently  the  fairy  castle  arose  before  us  as  from  a  green 
ambush — we  approached  —  the  carriage  stopped.  Through 
an  imposing  gateway  we  passed  into  a  court  adorned  with 
lofty  trees,  and  found  ourselves  at  the  chief  entrance  of  the 
magnificent  building.  Entering  a  fine  gateway,  and 
descending  several  broad  steps,  we  gained  a  finely  paved 
avenue  in  a  large  and  beautiful  garden,  and  as  we 
wandered  beneath  the  shade  of  lofty  Italian  cypresses  we 
came  to  a  row  of  elegant  fountains  in  the  centre  of  the 
avenue,  which,  like  those  of  Versailles,  play  on  Sundays 
only.  These  fountains  were  set  in  a  framework  of  what  we 
may  call  "  mosaic  verdure,"  light  feathery  bamboo,  dark 
palms,  banyans,  cypresses,  orange  and  citron  trees  alternat- 
ing with  each  other  in  a  charming  manner.  Twittering 
songsters,  hidden  in  the  branches,  were  singing  most 
sweetly ;  roses  and  violets  filled  the  air  with  their  delicate 
perfume.  "With  this  poetical  vista  spread  out  before  us  we 
approach  the  most  superb  work  in  the  universe,  and  ascend- 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  75 

ing  a  flight  of  marble  steps  at  the  end  of  the  garden,  we 
gained  a  handsome  platform  of  the  same  material,of  a  bluish- 
white  colour,  from  which,  resting  on  a  marble  pedestal, 
rises  the  world-famous  "  Taj  Mahal,"  the  marble  mau- 
soleum of  the  Emperor  Shah-Jehan  and  his  beloved  wife, 
Mumtaz  Mahal.  So  dazzling  is  the  effect  of  the  sunbeams 
on  the  glittering  white  marble  building  and  the  brilliant 
platform  that  the  eyes  soon  become  dim.  We  were  obliged 
to  take  care  not  to  fall,  for  the  costly  floor  is  as  slippery 
as  it  is  elegant. 

I  stood  at  the  entrance  of  this  famous  resting-place,  I 
looked  up — my  ideal  had  disappeared,  but  my  solemn  awe 
and  my  admiration  remained.  I  saw  no  fairy  castle,  but  I 
saw  reality.  I  was  standing  before  a  sanctuary  of  love, 
before  a  heaven  of  poetry  and  art !  This  reality  is  indeed 
the  most  beautiful  and  noble  poem  ever  composed  to 
human  love.  It  was  the  love  of  the  Emperor  Shah-Jehan 
who  dedicated  this  poetic  tomb  to  his  beloved.  And  truly 
the  "  Taj  Mahal "  at  Agra  is  the  most  poetical  resting- 
place  in  the  world.  Who  could  approach  this  tomb 
without  emotion  ?  Where  upon  earth  is  there  a  greater 
triumph  of  mortal  love,  a  more  beautiful  proof  of  the 
genial  and  artistic  spirit  of  the  human  race!  Deeply 
moved,  I  entered  the  sacred  hall ;  my  companion  led  me 
down  into  the  subterranean  tomb  where  the  beloved 
"  Mahal  "  rests  beside  her  lord  and  husband.  The  stairs 
were  very  slippery,  and  a  cool  air  rose  from  the  dimly- 
lighted  sepulchral  chamber.  The  light  from  the  entrance 
door  falls  direct  upon  the  grave.  I  was  now  standing 
before  the  most  elegant  sarcophagus  known  to  mortals, 
constructed  of  the  purest  marble,  inlaid  with  agates,  cor- 


76  THE  NORTH  STAR 

nelians,  lapis  lazuli,  and  other  precious  stones.  The  actual 
tomb  is  girt  about  with  a  wonderful  screen  of  light  trellis- 
work,  representing  lilies,  irises,  and  other  flowers.  The 
design  of  this  trellis-work  is  extremely  beautiful.  Slumber- 
ing beside  his  queen,  in  a  similarly  decorated  but  somewhat 
simpler  tomb,  rests  Shah-Jehan,  the  hero  of  this  romantic 
sepulchre.  A  profusion  of  bouquets  and  garlands  lay  about 
the  tombs ;  and  the  scent  of  roses,  jasmine,  and  sandal- 
wood  filled  the  lonely  sacred  spot. 

From  this  sepulchre  of  love  we  went  to  the  chamber  cor- 
responding with  it  above,  ascending  the  same  steps  we  had 
before  descended.  In  this  second  hall  are  two  other 
tombs,  called  the  "  Jawabs  "  or  "Answers."  They  are  of 
a  similar  form  to,  and  as  costly  as,  those  beneath.  I  counted 
more  than  thirty  different  precious  stones  in  a  single 
sculptured  flower.  Above  the  second  chamber  rises  a 
majestic  dome,  which  has  a  wonderful  echo.  I  shouted 
out  a  few  fine  sounding  words,  and  my  voice  reverberated 
in  a  long  soft  sustained  murmur  above  my  head,  finally 
dying  gently  away  in  the  heights  of  the  dome.  In- 
credulous, I  looked  about  on  every  side  in  the  empty  space, 
to  see  if  some  stranger  were  trying  to  deceive  me. 
But  there  was  no  one  near;  the  echo  was  that  of  my 
own  voice.  The  magic  charm  of  this  sweet  death  chamber 
affected  me  with  a  tender  melancholy  ;  my  companion,  too, 
was  deeply  moved  and  full  of  reverence,  and  as  long  as  we 
were  inside  this  sacred  hall  of  love,  we  spoke  but  little 
and  very  softly. 

"Speak  'neath  your  voice,  and  hardly  breathe  a  sigh, 
For  every  sound  is  hidden  here,  and  voice  obliged  to  fly  ; 
But  say  a  prayer  as  softly  as  you  can, 
Ten  thousand  angels  will  respond  — AKMAN." 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  77 

It  is  a  sacred  tradition  that  angels  dwell  in  the  upper 
portion  of  the  vacant  space,  and  it  was  formerly  the 
custom  to  hang  a  bouquet  set  with  precious  stones  in  the 
centre  of  the  dome  on  a  golden  thread ;  which  was  the 
symbol  of  the  world  hovering  in  the  infinity  of  space ! 

To  this  day  I  still  hear  the  wonderful  echo  in  the  dome 
of  this  sanctuary,  and  whenever  my  truant  spirit  flies  back 
to  this  temple  of  love,  I  again  explore  in  fancy  the  lofty 
vacant  space  to  see  if  the  echo  of  my  own  voice  is  not  that 
of  some  stranger.  Long  does  my  spirit  listen  to  the  mimic 
sounds  as  they  gently  die  away.  Soft  music,  such  as  that 
of  a  harp,  would  sound  divine  in  this  hall. 

"What  more  shall  I  say  to  you,  reader,  of  the  exalted 
beauty,  of  the  charming  harmony,  of  this  sacred  spot  ?  It 
forms  one  mighty  whole,  of  such  poetic  and  artistic  per- 
fection, that  the  most  fertile  imagination  must  feel  satis- 
fied here. 

Futtehpore  Sikree  is  a  memorial  of  the  past  riches  and 
glory  of  India,  and  in  the  "  Taj  Mahal"  we  have  a  second 
monument  of  the  poetry  and  art  of  the  kingdom  which 
has  now  passed  away. 

Neither  Paris  nor  London,  Rome  nor  Constantinople  — 
in  short,  no  civilised  spot  in  the  world  —  can  boast  of  such 
riches  as  India  once  possessed  —  nay,  still  possesses  —  in 
spite  of  the  havoc  wrought  by  the  cannon-balls  of  "  civil- 
ised" races. 

The  "  Taj  Mahal "  is  an  image  of  heaven  upon  earth  — 
it  will  be  the  wonder  of  all  ages. 

It  was  with  the  melancholy  and  solemn  feelings  which 
every  sensitive  nature  must  experience  on  parting  from 
the  good  and  beautiful  that  I  left  this  sacred  mausoleum 


78  THE  NORTH  STAR 

of  love,  and  Mr.  Ball  explained  to  me  all  the  details  of  the 
outside  of  the  building.  Everything  was  so  exquisitely 
finished  that  I  remarked  to  my  companion,  "the  great 
f  Taj  Mahal '  is  as  scrupulously  executed  as  the  delicately 
carved  ivory  basket  I  brought  from  China." 

The  building  is  of  an  octagonal  form,  and  in  the  Moor- 
ish style.  The  outside  terminates  in  a  central  Oriental 
dome,  with  a  smaller  dome  at  each  of  the  four  corners. 
On  either  side  is  a  stately  entrance,  and  on  the  right  and 
left  of  each  entrance  rise  two  small  arches,  one  above  the 
other.  The  "Taj"  itself  is  262  feet,  and  the  minarets 
are  200  feet  high. 

The  material  of  which  the  outside  of  the  building  is 
composed  is  solid  white  marble ;  whilst  the  inside  is  of  the 
same  materials  of  various  colours,  white,  light  brown,  and 
deep  blue  being  artistically  combined.  The  designs  and 
carving  of  the  flowers  and  precious  stones  are  so  beautiful 
as  to  defy  description. 

If  heaven  possesses  so  charming  a  dome,  such  wonder- 
ful flowers,  and  so  beautiful  an  echo  as  the  "  Taj  Mahal " 
at  Agra — how  happy  may  we  be  there !  what  glorious 
visions  we  may  there  enjoy ! 

Our  examination  of  this  charming  abode  of  love  had 
occupied  us  two  hours.  The  sun  was  scorching  hot ;  the 
dazzling  platform  emitted  fire ;  the  white  marble  building 
glittered  and  glowed  with  all  manner  of  colours.  Shah- 
Jehan  and  Mahal  rested  calmly  in  their  flower-strewn 
beds,  whilst  the  angels  in  the  dome  watched  over  them. 
Adieu,  happy  royal  pair;  adieu  to  your  sacred  tombs: 
may  ye  love  one  another  to  all  eternity ! 

As  I  turned  once  more  to  gaze  at  the  poetic  spot,  and 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  79 

indulged  in  a  last  lingering  look,  Mr.  Ball  brought  me  a 
fine  bouquet  of  roses,  violets,  and  jasmine. 

"  I  wish,"  said  that  chivalrous  gentleman,  to  "  crown 
your  delight  with  a  little  bunch  of  flowers,  and  thia 
evening  I  will  hold  a  little  fete  in  your  honour  here.  I 
will  invite  my  sister  and  a  few  friends.  The  moon  will 
be  at  its  full  to-night,  and  the  '  Taj '  is  the  most  wonderful 
sight  when  seen  in  its  light.  You  shall  see  it  this  evening 
under  its  most  charming  aspect." 

I  thanked  Mr.  Ball,  and  when  I  got  back  to  the  con  vent 
of  St.  Marie,  I  told  the  Lady  Superior  what  I  had  already 
seen,  and  what  more  I  hoped  to  see  the  same  evening.  The 
Lady  Superior  left  me,  and,  as  I  conjectured,  went  to  the 
Rev.  Father  Seraphim,  for  that  gentleman  soon  came  to 
inform  me  that  the  rules  of  the  convent  would  not 
permit  him  to  allow  me  to  go  out  in  the  evening.  "  All 
the  inmates  of  the  convent  must  be  in  bed  at  nine  o'clock," 
added  the  good  Father.  I  pointed  out  to  him  that  I  was 
not  staying  in  the  convent  itself,  but  only  in  the  front 
building  of  the  same,  and  I  begged  very  earnestly  to 
be  excused  from  obeying  the  rules  of  the  back  building, 
and  to  be  allowed  to  go  out,  as  Mr.  Ball  had  arranged  a 
little  f6te.  I  wanted,  I  said,  to  see  the  "  Taj  "  in  full 
moonlight,  and  the  moon  did  not  shine  by  day. 

But  all  my  entreaties  were  in  vain.  The  Reverend 
Father  Seraphim  spoke  very  sweetly  indeed,  but  he  would 
not  permit  me  to  go.  The  reason  of  this  was  not  so  much 
because  of  the  rules  of  the  convent,  but  because  of  the 
secret  hatred  of  Mr.  Ball, "  the  dreadful  young  man  "  who 
had  torn  away  his  beautiful  sister  and  her  beautiful  money 
from  the  convent.  I  was  to  have  spent  the  evening  with  this 


80 

young  lady,  and  that  the  Lady  Superior  and  the  Reverend 
Father  Seraphim  were  bent 'on  preventing.  They  had 
both,  however,  as  well  as  all  the  nuns  of  the  convent  of  St. 
Marie,  seen  the  "  Taj  Mahal "  by  moonlight,  for  the  Rev. 
Father  Seraphim  told  me  so  himself,  and  the  evening 
they  did  so,  neither  the  Reverend  Father  nor  the  nuns  were 
in  bed  by  nine  o'clock.  But  my  patient  reasoning  with 
the  good  gentleman  accomplished  nothing ;  I  was  obliged 
to  stay  at  home,  and  although  I  was  staying  in  the  front 
of  the  convent,  I  had  to  conform  to  the  rules  of 
the  back  —  that  is  to  say,  of  the  convent  itself.  The 
Reverend  Father  Seraphim  and  the  Lady  Superior  told  mo 
not  to  tell  Mr.  Ball  why  I  could  not  go  out.  This  request 
annoyed  me,  and  I  replied  without  hesitation,  "I  shall 
tell  Mr.  Ball  the  truth,  and  nothing  else."  I  felt  very 
disappointed ;  for  the  moon  rose  in  full  glory  that  evening, 
and  the  sky  and  atmosphere  were  beautifully  clear.  At  hall- 
past  eight  o'clock  a  carriage  drove  up  to  the  door,  contain- 
ing Mr.  Ball,  who  had  come  to  fetch  me.  Once  more  I  saw 
some  nuns  coming  from  the  garden,  and  again  they  walked 
up  and  down  the  passage  in  front  of  the  door,  and  listened 
to  every  word.  When  Mr.  Ball  heard  that  I  could  not 
go  on  account  of  the  rules,  he  was  very  angry,  for  he  had 
made  all  the  preparations  for  the  f 6te,  and  his  sister  and 
brother-in-law,  and  some  of  his  friends  had  already  gone 
to  the  "Taj"  to  wait  for  us.  But  I  was  not  to  go, 
and  for  the  sake  of  peace  I  had  to  submit.  The  in- 
dignant gentleman  drove  away  and  informed  his  friends 
why  .1  did  not  come.  I  had  had  the  best  of  oppor- 
tunities to  see  the  marble  "  Taj "  in  full  moonlight, 
and  because  of  the  malignant  and  jealous  caprice  of  the 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  81 

Reverend  Father  and  the  Lady  Superior  I  had  to  forego 
that  pleasure.  But  to  make  up  to  me  for  my  disappoint- 
ment and  for  my  enforced  obedience,  the  nuns  were  all 
very  friendly  and  good  to  me  before  my  departure,  indeed 
Father  Seraphim  even  offered  to  be  my  escort  himself,  which 
I  declined,  telling  him  I  would  see  nothing  more,  and  that 
I  was  very  angry  with  him.  I  was  now  actually  con- 
sidered worthy  to  enter  the  back  building  behind  the 
garden — in  a  word,  the  convent  itself,  even  the  inside  of  the 
sanctuary  !  This,  of  course,  gave  me  no  pleasure,  but  I  was 
firmly  resolved  to  do  everything  to  ensure  a  peaceful 
parting.  The  nuns  who  invited  me  to  go  through  the 
convent  with  them  and  into  the  chapel  were  extremely 
bigoted,  and  made  many  low  obeisances  as  they  passed 
along,  whilst  I  behaved  naturally,  paying  no  attention  to 
flattering  or  bigoted  remarks. 

The  distortion  of  religion  in  many  convents  is  truly 
painful  to  witness.  In  the  convent  of  St.  Marie,  at  Agra, 
I  met  with  a  whole  labyrinth  of  minor  deities,  amongst 
whom  the  belief  in  one  true  God  and  Saviour  is  almost  lost. 

The  nuns,  putting  the  good  God  quite  on  one  side, 
enumerated  to  me  so  many  saints  in  whom  they  trusted, 
and  consequently  worshipped,  and  told  me  of  so  many 
prayers  which  they  had  to  offer  up  daily  to  this  or 
that  saint,  that  but  little  or  no  time  can  have  been  left 
to  them  for  praying  to  the  true  God.  Listening  to  these 
nuns,  one  would  suppose  that  heaven  and  earth,  judgment 
and  eternity  were  not  in  the  power  and  righteousness  of 
the  one  God  and  Judge,  but  in  those  of  the  saints 
committed  to  Him.  From  what  the  nuns  said  I  could 
only  gather  that  omnipotence,  omniscience,  and  omni- 
VOL.  n.  6 


32  THE  NORTH  STAR 

presence  are  not  in  their  opinion  the  exclusive  attri- 
butes of  one  invisible  God,  but  the  general  character- 
istics of  all  the  heavenly  spirits,  whom  men  that  consider 
themselves  infallible  have  chosen  to  canonize.  One 
of  the  good  nuns,  as  we  stood  in  a  passage  of  the 
convent,  showed  me  a  statue  of  St.  Joseph  decked  with 
many  flowers  and  ribbons.  She  knelt  down  and  prayed, 
and  as  she  rose  from  her  knees  she  said,  "Miss  Weppner, 
do  you  love  St.  Joseph? "  My  answer  was  candid,  and  not 
what  the  nun  expected.  She  looked  at  me  angrily,  and 
with  her  hand  upon  her  heart,  and  an  enthusiastic  loving 
glance  at  the  statue  of  the  saint,  she  said, "  Mbi,  je  Vaime  d 
la  folie"  (I  love  him  to  distraction)!  I  could  not  help 
laughing  heartily,  and  said,  "  Sister  M.,  we  ought  not  even 
to  love  God  like  that ;  if  we  lose  our  senses  in  our  love  to 
the  saints  to  begin  with,  there  will  be  no  one  left  to  love 
God  but  fools,  and  are  you,"  I  added,  smiling  "  as  passion- 
ately in  love  with  any  female  saints  as  you  are  with  St. 
Joseph?" 

"  Quelle petite  mechante  !  "  (what  a  naughty  little  thing 
you  are !)  said  Sister  M.,  sprinkling  herself  and  me  with  a 
handful  of  holy  water.  But  the  most  absurd  thing  of  all 
was  yet  to  come.  This  was  reserved  for  the  moment  of 
my  departure.  Several  nuns  came  into  my  room  and  offered 
me  various  new  medallions,  with  the  names  and  virtues  of 
which  I  had  hitherto  been  unacquainted.  They  also  showed 
me  an  "  indulgence  prayer,"  of  which  I  had  never  heard, 
and  which  was  a  modern  discovery  of  a  nun  in  Agra,  and 
had  received  the  sanction  and  seal  of  the  Church  of  Eome. 
I  must  here  enumerate  the  qualities  of  this  special  indul- 
gence, the  rules  and  prayers  of  which  were  printed  on  a 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  83 

paper  folded  double.  On  the  first  side  of  the  paper  was 
a  clock,  with  the  hours  numbered  from  one  to  twelve. 
This  clock  represented  a  twelve  hours'  guard  of  honour  in 
the  court  of  heaven.  Those  who  wished  to  be  members 
of  this  guard  of  honour  and  to  win  the  blessings  of  the 
indulgence,  chose  one  of  the  twelve  hours,  during  which 
they  must  'pay  the  heavenly  court  the  worship  prescribed 
in  the  said  indulgence,  and  on  a  day  irrevocably  appointed, 
they  must  confess  and  communicate;  and  for  this  the 
members  receive  a  full  indulgence  and  the  forgiveness 
of  all  the  sins  of  their  whole  life.  One  of  the  nuns 
explained  to  me  that  a  guard  of  honour  in  the  court  of 
heaven  exactly  resembled  in  form  a  similar  guard  in 
an  imperial  or  royal  court  upon  earth,  and  she  asked  me 
if  I  wished  to  be  a  lady  of  honour,  and  would  choose  an 
hour  for  worship,  and  earn  the  full  indulgence  and  for- 
giveness of  the  Church. 

I  had  heard  a  good  deal  of  nonsense  from  Catholics, 
but  never  such  nonsense  as  this.  I  hardly  knew  what 
to  reply  to  such  absurdities.  I  have  never  been  able 
to  act  a  part,  and  have  always  spoken  out  what  I  think- 
I  could  not  treat  the  matter  seriously,  I  therefore  treated 
it  as  a  joke,  and  told  the  nun  I  had  no  wish  to  win  a 
post  in  the  court  of  heaven  by  such  selfish  services,  and 
that  a  paltry  guard  of  honour  introduced  into  the  court 
of  heaven,  such  as  that  of  an  Imperial  or  Koyal  court 
on  earth,  seemed  to  me  absurdly  speculative  and  egotistical. 
I  told  her  that  I  was  already  a  lady  of  honour,  without 
any  interested  motive,  or  any  special  hours  for  winning 
that  distinction,  and  that  I  always  strove  to  honour  God 
by  a  worthy  and  honourable  life. 


84  THE  NORTH  STAR 

My  cool  and  unflattering  treatment  of  the  matter  dis- 
appointed and  annoyed  the  nuns.  Perhaps,  however, 
although  he  did  not  own  it,  the  Rev.  Father  Seraphim 
was  pleased  with  my  reply,  for  when  I  left  he  gave  me  a 
very  nice  unclosed  letter  of  introduction  to  the  Reverend 
Dr.  Keegan,  of  Delhi,  and  told  me  that  the  Lady  Superior 
of  the  convent  of  St.  Marie,  Mussoorie,  was  informed  of 
my  approaching  arrival. 

For  the  last  time  the  cabriolet  of  Mr.  Ball  drove  up  to 
the  gate  of  the  convent.  The  nuns  were  determined  once 
more  to  see  the  handsome  and  dreadful  young  man  who 
had  carried  away  his  wealthy  sister,  and  they  came 
with  Father  S.  to  wish  me  good-bye,  the  dreadful  young 
man  standing  in  the  midst  of  the  scene  with  the  calmness, 
pride,  and  dignity  of  which  a  native  of  Great  Britain 
alone  is  capable.  He  led  me  to  his  cabriolet,  and  when 
seated,  we  had  a  pleasant  review  and  a  hearty  laugh  at 
the  "  romantic  r61e "  he  had  played  during  my  stay  at 
the  convent,  and  meantime  we  arrived  at  the  railway 
station,  where  he  telegraphed  to  a  friend  in  Delhi,  to 
whom  I  was  introduced  by  Messrs.  Wolff,  Wilmar  &  Co., 
of  Calcutta,  begging  him  to  meet  me  on  the  arrival  of  the 
train. 

Although  only  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  it  was  already 
oppressively  hot,  but  Mr.  Ball  gave  me  a  basket  of  refresh- 
ing fruits,  and  tied  a  bottle  of  soda  water  outside  the  car- 
riage door,  that  the  breeze  created  by  the  motion  of  the 
train  might  keep  it  cool.  I  thanked  the  good  gentleman 
for  all  his  kindness  to  me,  and  the  rapid  express  soon 
whirled  me  away. 

The  heat  quickly  became  unbearable,  yet  it  was  but  the 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  85 

14th  of  March.  I  laid  a  wet  cloth  on  my  head,  and  as  I 
was  alone,  I  opened  both  windows  ;  but  even  the  current 
of  air  produced  by  the  flying  train  was  hot  and  scorching. 
The  vertical  sun  cast  no  shadows,  but  seemed  to  shine  in 
at  both  windows  of  the  carriage  at  once.  I  now  closed 
them  and  the  shutters,  but  still  the  sun  poured  through 
them  from  the  top  ;  the  wood  became  burning  hot,  and  so 
did  the  handkerchief  in  the  pocket  of  my  dress,  so  before 
I  used  it  I  waved  it  about.  My  dress  and  everything 
around  me  was  so  hot,  that  I  did  not  know  where  to  lay  my 
hands.  The  skin  of  my  face  was  blistered  all  over,  and  it 
peeled  off  a  few  days  after.  I  lost  my  voice,  became  very 
hoarse,  and  sank  into  a  state  of  thorough  stupefaction. 
Of  the  country  through  which  I  passed,  I  saw  nothing. 
At  one  of  the  stations  some  English  ladies  entered  my 
carriage,  but  nobody  spoke  a  word.  One  of  the  ladies  was 
nearly  fainting ;  so  I  silently  offered  her  my  eau-de-cologne, 
which  she  used,  giving  it  back  to  me  with  a  mute  gesture 
of  thanks. 

We  reached  Delhi  without  having  spoken  a  single  word. 
Mr.  Ball's  friend,  Mr.  Kosenheim,  a  German  gentleman, 
head  of  the  firm  of  Kohn,  Feilheim  &  Co.,  of  Delhi,  re- 
ceived me.  "  So  this  is  Indian  heat,"  I  said  in  a  hoarse 
voice.  "  The  heat  is  bad  to-day,"  he  replied ;  "  but  this  is 
nothing  to  what  is  yet  to  come." 

I  knew  that  Mr.  Rosenheim  was  unmarried,  and  lived 
alone.  I  therefore  asked  him  to  take  me  to  the  Reverend 
Doctor  Keegan,  which  he  did.  Here  I  once  again  met 
a  kind  and  liberal-minded  priest.  The  Reverend  Doctor 
Keegan  is  a  very  learned  and  celebrated  theologian,  who  has 
obtained  the  title  of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  He  studied  in 


86  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

Rome,  and  lived  for  seven  years  in  the  neighbourhood  ot 
the  spiritual  court.  He  had  arrived  in  Delhi  many  years 
before  my  visit,  and  was  held  in  the  highest  esteem  alike 
by  Catholics  and  Protestants.  The  reverend  gentleman 
spoke  to  me  very  kindly,  and  when  he  learnt  my  wish  to 
be  received  for  a  few  days  in  a  respectable  family,  he  made 
the  liberal  reply:  "I  am  a  Catholic  priest;  I  have  lived 
for  many  years  in  this  place,  and  know  every  single  family 
in  it.  I  could  not  recommend  you  to  any  one  who  would 
receive  you  better  than  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moll ;  they  are  both 
Protestants,  but,  for  all  that,  they  are  my  best  friends  in 
Delhi."  Thereupon  Dr.  K.  wrote  a  few  lines  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Moll,  and  my  fellow-countryman,  Mr.  E,.,  drove  me 
to  their  residence,  which  happened  to  be  close  to  his,  the 
neighbours  being  well  acquainted  with  one  another.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Moll  were  very  pleased  that  Dr.  K.,  the  hon- 
oured friend  of  their  house,  had  sent  them  a  guest,  and 
they  received  me  in  the  kindest  manner.  Here  I  again 
made  the  acquaintance  of  a  sweet  little  baby  only  seven 
weeks  old.  Her  father  and  mother  were  both  from  Eng- 
land ;  Mr.  Moll  was  a  celebrated  architect,  Mrs.  Moll  a 
sweet  young  lady,  and  their  baby  a  very  beautiful  little  girl. 

I  felt  much  happier  in  the  residence  of  this  happy  little 
group  than  in  the  front  building  of  the  convent  of  St. 
Marie  at  Agra. 

It  was  partly  my  kind  host,  and  partly  my  good  fellow- 
countryman,  Mr.  R,.,  who  showed  me  what  was  worth 
seeing  in  the  old  royal  city  of  Delhi.  Each  had  his  own 
equipage  and  horses,  and  not  to  tire  the  poor  creatures 
too  much  in  the  great  heat,  one  pair  was  used  one  day  and 
the  other  the  next. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CBOS8.  8? 

The  celebrated  ruins  of  this  ancient  capital  are  forty-five 
square  miles  in  circumference,  but  as  I  have  described 
those  at  Futtehpore  Sikree,  I  will  not  weary  my  reader 
with  an  account  of  those  of  the  ancient  city  of  Delhi,  which 
are  to  a  great  extent  merely  a  repetition  of  the  former. 

The  visitor  of  the  modern  town  of  Delhi,  formerly 
called  "  Shahjehanabad,"  will  find  it  a  rich  fountain-head 
of  traditions  of  the  past,  and  for  the  student  of  the  history 
of  India,  a  journey  to  Delhi  would  be  of  the  greatest 
interest.  Here,  too,  amidst  the  endless  chaos  of  a  glory 
which  has  passed  away,  we  catch  glimpses  of  the  degrada- 
tion, the  depravity,  and  the  ruin  brought  about  by  the  lust 
of  conquest  of  a  cruel  ruler.  Whilst  the  crowns  of  these 
haughty  despots  are  rusting  in  the  dust,  whilst  the  once 
glorious  East  lies  in  ruins,  similar  despotic  rulers  lusting 
for  conquest  are  rising  in  the  "West.  The  world  holds 
them  in  the  balance.  At  first  the  former  was  uppermost, 
but  it  is  now  undermost,  whilst  the  latter  is  rising.  Every- 
thing has  its  season ;  kingdoms,  kings,  and  crowns  dis- 
appear, heaven  and  earth  remain,  and  God  and  righteous- 
ness govern  time. 

I  will  only  notice  here  a  few  of  the  most  noteworthy 
places  in  Delhi,  and  those  shall  not  be  ruins. 

I  had  not  as  yet  seen  a  Mahommedan  temple,  and  Mr. 
R.  took  me  to  the  most  celebrated  mosque  of  the  east, 
called  the  "  Jumma  Musjid,"  which  is  situated  between 
the  Cashmere  and  Delhi  gates,  on  a  rocky  height. 
Although  I  had  already  seen  so  many  temples  in  Japan, 
China,  and  India,  the  Mahommedan  temple  at  Delhi  was 
quite  a  new  and  interesting  sight.  We  happened  to  find 
the  faithful  Mahommedans  at  prayer,  kneeling  on  a  cool 


88  THE  NORTH  STAR 

and  elegant  marble  floor,  with  their  faces  towards  the  east, 
I  must  here  remark  that  the  reverent  manner  in  which 
Mahommedan  devotions  are  conducted,  as  compared  with 
the  abject  behaviour  of  the  Hindus  at  Benares,  excited 
my  admiration  and  respect. 

Three  lofty  and  elegant  steps  led  up  to  the  three  doors 
of  this  noble  temple.  The  chief  entrance  faces  the  east, 
and  is  higher  and  more  richly  decorated  than  those  towards 
the  north  and  south.  The  doors  lead  into  a  large  open 
quadrangle  constructed  of  sandstone.  In  the  centre  is  an 
enormous  water  basin  of  the  most  costly  marble.  On  the 
western  side  of  the  open  quadrangle  rises  the  "  Jumma 
Musjid,"  of  oblong  form,  200  feet  long  by  120  wide. 
The  stately  hall  is  surrounded  by  three  magnificent  marble 
cupolas  with  richly  gilded  spires.  To  the  right  and  left 
of  the  temple  stand  two  light  towers  corresponding  with 
the  principal  one.  The  materials  of  which  they  are 
built  are  dazzling  white  marble  and  red  sandstone, 
arranged  in  alternate  stripes,  the  appearance  of  which 
was  very  striking,  glittering  as  they  were  in  the  brilliant 
sunbeams. 

At  a  distance  about  equal  to  that  between  each  tower 
and  the  cupola,  rise  three  projecting  galleries,  each  with 
a  white  marble  pavilion.  The  effect  of  their  artistic 
symmetry  is  especially  fine.  Three  sides  of  the  open 
quadrangle  are  surrounded  by  an  elegant  colonnade  of 
red  sandstone,  and  in  each  corner  of  the  colonnade  a 
white  marble  pavilion  rests  on  red  columns.  The  mosque 
itself  rises  above  the  fourth  side  of  the  quadrangle.  The 
atrium  or  forecourt  of  the  mosque  is  paved  with  white 
marble,  and  along  the  cornice  run  compartments,  ten  feet 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  89 

long  by  two  and  a  half  wide,  of  white  marble,  in  which 
the  "  Niski "  characters  are  to  be  read,  inlaid  in  black 
marble.  The  floor  of  the  inner  court  consists  of  slabs  of 
marble  three  feet  long  by  one  and  a  half  wide,  bordered 
with  black  marble,  on  which  the  Mahommedans  were 
kneeling  in  prayer.  The  spot  indicating  the  direction  of 
the  holy  city  of  Mecca  is  a  very  beautiful  niche  adorned 
with  rich  frieze-work.  On  the  north  and  south-east  of 
the  quadrangle  are  small  columns  with  white  marble 
tablets.  On  one  of  them  I  saw  the  eastern  hemisphere 
artistically  engraved,  and  on  the  others  the  hour  lines. 
From  each  line  rises  an  erect  gnome  or  imp,  and  their 
shadows,  as  cast  by  the  sun,  show  the  faithful  Mahomme- 
dans when  it  is  the  hour  of  prayer. 

From  the  Jumma  Musjid  we  went  to  the  Pearl  Mosque 
and  the  royal  baths.  The  latter,  though  beautiful,  are 
not  nearly  equal  to  the  one  I  saw  at  Futtehpore  Sikree. 
The  marble  baths  of  the  kings  of  Delhi  and  the  ladies 
of  the  Zenana  are  very  fine,  and  although  much  injured, 
are  the  most  costly  I  have  seen.  My  companion  pointed 
out  to  me  the  marble  throne  of  the  king,  which  had 
been  much  injured  in  the  massacre  of  1857.  Some 
of  the  beautiful  mosaic  works  of  the  great  master,  Austin 
of  Bordeaux,  are  still  preserved.  Delhi  possesses  a 
numerous  class  of  remarkable  miniature  painters,  and  its 
gold  workers  and  cashmere  manufactories  are  no  less 
celebrated,  but  the  prices  of  the  productions  of  all  three 
are  very  high. 

I  saw  various  mausoleums  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Delhi,  which,  however,  after  having  described  the  Taj, 
are  of  no  importance  to  my  narrative. 


90  THE  NORTH  STAR 

A  drive  to  the  Kootub  Minar  is  interesting  to  a  visitor 
to  Delhi,  for  it  is  the  highest  tower  in  the  world.  It  is 
on  the  road  to  Goorgaon,  eleven  miles  from  Delhi.  On 
account  of  the  great  heat,  we  left  that  city  at  one  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and,  as  we  had  very  good  horses,  we 
arrived  at  our  destination  long  before  sunrise. 

The  tower  rises  in  five  galleries  to  a  height  of  238 
feet  above  the  ground ;  the  lower  round  is  47  feet,  and 
the  upper  not  quite  9  feet  in  diameter. 

By  the  time  the  east  began  to  redden,  I  had  climbed  up 
the  enormous  ascent.  I  sat  down  at  the  top  in  the  cool 
invigorating  air,  and  awaited  the  dawn.  But  no  sooner 
had  the  orb  of  day  arisen  from  his  fiery  bed  than  'I  ran 
away  and  crept  quickly  into  the  cool  tower.  The  descent 
of  the  spiral  staircase  was  not  so  easy  as  the  ascent.  We 
took  a  breakfast  of  bread  and  fresh  asses'  milk  in  a 
bungalow,  and  drove  rapidly  home,  for  we  dreaded  the 
broiling  sun  behind  us.  From  the  15th  to  the  20th  of 
March  it  was  so  dreadfully  hot  that  the  houses  were  kept 
entirely  closed  throughout  the  day.  Inside  the  house 
twilight  constantly  prevailed.  The  punkahs  above  the 
table  were  worked  by  the  servants  during  meals,  and  those 
over  the  beds  during  the  night.  But  all  these  artificial 
alleviations  did  but  little  to  relieve  the  oppression  of  the 
heat.  The  worst  of  it  is  that  many  people  lose  their 
appetites  and  have  no  strength  left  to  endure  it.  Nor  is 
there  any  ice  to  be  had,  so  that  cool  drinks  cannot  be 
enjoyed.  I  was  quite  hoarse,  and  felt  so  weak  that  I 
hardly  knew  how  to  stand  upright,  and  the  doctor  told 
me  that  both  these  symptoms  were  the  result  of  the  heat, 
to  which  I  was  not  yet  accustomed. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  91 

Not  until  the  evening,  long  after  sunset,  could  the  doors 
and  windows  be  opened  and  the  rooms  aired,  and  even 
then  it  was  often  still  very  hot.  Before  sunrise,  the 
entire  house  was  again  opened  and  aired,  after  which 
operation  everything  was  shut  up,  and  darkness  prevailed 
for  the  whole  of  the  rest  of  the  day.  The  atmosphere 
out  of  doors  in  the  middle  of  the  day  was  like  the  fumes 
of  a  hot  furnace. -  One  day  I  was  invited  out  to  dine. 
After  dinner  I  left  the  house  and  just  walked  from  the 
drawing-room  to  the  carriage  which  was  standing  close 
to  the  verandah.  The  contrast  between  the  atmosphere 
of  the  inside  of  the  house  and  that  of  the  open  air  was  so 
great,  that  I  fell  down  stunned  beside  the  carriage.  In 
the  vehicle  it  was  as  broiling  hot  as  in  an  oven.  I  had 
almost  entirely  lost  my  voice  in  this  accident,  and  for 
several  days  I  could  only  make  myself  understood  with 
great  difficulty. 

How  fortunate  I  was,  under  such  circumstances,  in 
having  found  a  comfortable  temporary  home ! 

I  was  not  treated  as  a  stranger,  but  a  friend.  In  spite 
of  my  weakness,  I  often  took  the  darling  baby  from  the 
arms  of  her  weary  nurse,  laid  myself  down  on  the  sofa  in 
the  darkened  drawing-room,  and  played  with  the  little 
angel.  I  really  do  not  know  which  baby  to  call  the 
sweetest  of  all  those  I  met  with  on  my  journey  round 
the  world,  they  all  were  so  very  sweet  and  angelic. 

The  burden  of  being  a  mother  in  the  heat  of  India 
must  be  very 'great,  much  more  so  than  in  more  favoured 
lands.  When  little  babies  cannot  be  sent  out  of  doors, 
but  must  be  kept  in  a  room  day  and  night,  it  is  very 
fatiguing  for  the  poor  weakened  mother,  who  has  herself 


92  THE  NORTH  STAB 

constantly  to  contend  with  the  inconveniences  and 
sufferings  of  the  enervating  and  oppressive  heat;  she 
loses  her  appetite  for  strengthening  food,  and  has  no 
recreation  in  the  fresh  air,  no  change  from  the  house  to 
the  beauties  of  nature.  Even  the  pleasures  which  a 
garden  in  front  of  the  house  might  afford  can  only  be 
enjoyed  in  the  middle  of  the  night  during  the  worst  part 
of  the  heat,  and  the  poor  little  babies  are  often  fretful. 
They  can  do  less  to  help  themselves  in  the  heat  than 
others ;  they  do  not  know  what  ails  them,  and  they  cry 
lustily  and  fling  out  their  little  hands  and  feet,  thereby 
greatly  increasing  their  sufferings.  Poor  little  things ;  if 
they  could  but  understand  the  simple  words,  "Keep  quiet, 
darling." 

In  spite  of  the  inconveniences  of  the  climate,  we  see 
the  same  numerous  families  of  little  children  in  English 
homes  in  India,  the  same  tender  care  and  love  of  fathers 
and  mothers  as  in  English  families  beneath  the  cool  skies 
of  Britain.  The  indefatigable  long-suffering  love  of 
English  mothers  in  India  reminded  me  of  some  of  a 
different  quality,  whom  I  had  seen  in  France  and  America. 

One  day  I  made  a  comical  mistake  with  a  "  salaam,"  the 
usual  salutation  in  India,  and  which  consists  in  raising  a 
hand  up  to  the  forehead.  Mr.  R.,  my  countryman,  sent 
his  servant  to  me  with  a  message  and  a  "  salaam."  The 
Hindoo  knew  a  little  English,  and  I  asked  him  some 
questions,  to  which  he  again  and  again  lifted  up  his  hand 
to  his  forehead.  At  first  I  was  at  a  loss  to  know  what 
he  meant,  but  presently  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  his 
master  had  a  headache.  I  sat  down  and  wrote  a  note  of 
Bympathy,  advising  him  strongly  to  nurse  himself,  and 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  93 

not  to  take  me  out  on  that  day,  as  the  almost  unbearable 
heat  would  certainly  make  his  headache  worse.  Some 
moments  after  the  servant  had  carried  my  note,  I  heard 
the  noise  of  a  carriage,  and  Mr.  Rosenheim  stepped  in. 
"  What,"  I  said,  "  in  this  fearful  heat,  and  with  the 
headache  you  have ! "  To  this  followed  an  explanation, 
and  it  turned  out  that  I  had  construed  the  "  salaam  "  he 
sent  me  into  a  headache ;  but  my  countryman  said  he  was 
very  much  pleased  with  my  kind  note  of  sympathy,  and 
with  the  mistake. 

After  spending  five  days  in  Delhi,  I  drove  away  one 
evening  to  Saharunpore,  which  is  the  northern  railway 
terminus  for  the  Himalaya  Mountains.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
Keegan,  of  Delhi,  gave  me  a  letter  to  the  Lady  Superior 
of  the  French  convent  at  Mussoorie,  a  little  town  in  the. 
Himalaya  Mountains,  to  whom  I  had  already  been  recom- 
mended by  the  Rev.  Father  Seraphim.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Moll  had  a  little  daughter  in  that  school,  for  there  is  no 
Protestant  school  in  Delhi.  They  wished  me  to  see 
their  child,  and  let  them  know  on  my  return  journey  how 
I  found  her.  "When  I  left  Delhi  I  had  a  very  bad  sore- 
throat,  and  could  not  speak ;  but  my  friends  comforted 
me  with  the  assurance  that  the  pure  air  of  the 
Himalayas  would  cure  me. 

The  next  day  about  noon  I  reached  Saharunpore.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  K.  had  introduced  me  to  his  friend,  the  telegraph 
inspector  of  the  district.  But  this  gentleman  had 
left  for  Lahore  in  the  morning,  and  I  was  therefore 
obliged  to  make  my  own  arrangements  for  my  further 
journey.  I  was  told  that  the  post  to  Rajpore,  at  the  foot  of 
the  Himalayas,  would  start  at  twelve  o'clock  at  night,  so 


94  THE  NORTH  STAR 

that  I  had  time  to  rest.  A  gentleman  of  the  telegraph 
office  took  me  to  a  bungalow,  where  I  found  every  comfort 
at  a  moderate  cost.  Such  bungalows  are  to  be  met  with  in 
many  small  and  large  towns  of  India.  They  are  for  the 
convenience  of  the  travelling  public,  and  are  under  the 
direction  and  protection  of  the  English  government. 
The  tariff  is  fixed  by  government,  and  is  very  low ;  the 
traveller  knows  everywhere  what  he  has  to  pay,  and  is  not 
likely  to  be  cheated.  Besides  this,  the  bungalows  are 
quite  private,  and  therefore  not  so  inconvenient  as  a 
hotel.  They  are  under  the  superintendence  of  native  men 
and  women,  and  are  thoroughly  comfortable,  cool,  and 
particularly  clean. 

How  renovated  I  felt  when  I  passed  from  the  broiling 
heat  out  of  doors  into  the  shady  bungalow,  and  found 
refreshment  in  a  cool  room !  Every  breath  did  me  good, 
and  the  very  sight  of  cold  water  was  a  blessing.  And 
when  the  polite  old  Hindu  showed  me  an  adjoining  room 
with  a  large  bath  in  it,  I  felt  quite  poetic,  and  the 
thermometer  of  my  drooping  spirits  rose  from  one  to  a 
hundred. 

1  then  remembered  that  romance  by  Goethe,  in  which 
the  hero,  in  the  midst  of  the  sufferings  of  consuming  heat, 
expresses  his  longing  for  cooling  water.  The  nymph  of 
the  stream  who  extols  the  delight  of  the  cool  waves  to  the 
fishermen  in  such  fascinating  terms,  I  saw  her  here.  A 
nymph  was  reclining  in  the  bath  of  the  bungalow.  She 
beckoned  to  me  and  refreshed  me.  I  rose  from  the 
waves  a  new  creature,  drank  a  glass  of  fresh  milk  and  lay 
down  upon  a  soft  bed  of  gossamer. 

It  was  twelve  o'clock  at   noon.     I  had   told  the  old 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  95 

Hindu  to  wake  me  at  the  right  time,  and  to  take  me  and 
my  chattels  to  the  post-carriage,  which  was  to  start  for 
Rajpore  at  twelve  o'clock  in  the  night,  and  he  promised  to 
do  so.  The  bungalow  was  pretty  dark,  and  I  soon  fell 
asleep,  for  I  had  not  slept  the  previous  night.  I  slept  for 
many  hours,  and  when  I  woke  it  was  very  dark.  I  thought 
the  good  old  man  would  come  and  awake  me,  as  he  had 
promised ;  but  nobody  came.  I  had  no  light,  no  match, 
and  I  could  not  open  the  shutters.  I  became  possessed 
with  the  notion  that  I  was  alone  in  the  large  bungalow, 
and  I  was  frightened.  But  I  did  not  mean  to  miss  the 
stage  coach,  and  I  dressed  myself.  Like  a  blind  Jacob,  I 
felt  for  water,  towels,  &c.,  and  in  so  doing  tumbled 
over  a  heavy  jug  full  of  water  in  the  bath-room,,  and 
after  a  series  of  various  small  and  great  misfortunes,  I 
stood  there  quite  equipped  and  ready.  The  good  old  man 
had  not  come,  and  what  was  I  to  do  ?  I  had  a  pretty  heavy 
trunk,  travelling-bag,  &c.  Who  was  to  take  them  to'  the 
stage-coach?  I  took  courage,  and  went  to  see  if  the  outer 
door  of  the  bungalow  was  open.  It  was ;  so  I  stepped 
into  the  open  air,  and  stood  in  the  full  moonlight,  of  which 
I  had  seen  nothing  in  the  dark  room.  I  only  knew  two 
words  of  the  Hindu  language,  and  those  were  "  baboo  " 
(merchant)  and  "  salaam  "  (good  morning  and  good-bye). 
Not  far  from  the  bungalow  stood  a  little  house  with  two 
windows.  I  went  first  to  one  and  then  to  another,  and, 
as  I  did  not  know  the  name  of  the  good  old  man,  I  shouted 
"  salaam"  several  times,  as  a  sign  that  I  wanted  to  go,  and 
to  pay  my  bill.  Nobody  answered  my  "  adieu,"  and  fear- 
ing that  I  should  miss  the  stage-coach,  I  determined  to  go, 
and  pay  on  my  return.  With  the  greatest  trouble  I 


96  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

carried  my  heavy  trunk  out  of  the  dark  bungalow  into  the 
open  field.  I  took  my  bag  and  parasol  in  one  hand,  and 
with  the  other  I  pushed  the  trunk  along  the  smooth 
ground  towards  the  lighted  lamps  of  the  railway  station  in 
the  distance.  But  the  way  there  seemed  to  me  much 
farther  than  it  had  seemed  the  day  before,  when  in  a  com- 
fortable carriage.  Pushing  the  trunk  was  hard  work ;  it 
slid  badly.  I  often  sat  down  on  my  heavy  burden  and 
rested.  1  felt  very  warm  though ;  the  night  air  was  very 
keen  and  cold.  It  is  the  great  contrast  between  the  tem- 
perature of  the  days  and  nights  in  India  which  is  so  dan- 
gerous to  the  body,  enervated  by  the  intense  heat  of  the 
day.  I  now  shivered  from  cold;  a  sudden  pain  in  my 
throat  seemed  likely  to  choke  me.  My  trunk  became 
heavier  and  heavier,  and  when  I  had  dragged  my  burden 
to  the  station,  two  fingers  of  my  right  hand  were  bleeding. 
But  the  stage-coach  was  still  there,  and  when  the  conductor, 
a  Hindu,  saw  that  I  was  too  hoarse  and  cold  to  speak,  he 
procured  me  a  glass  of  hot  milk,  for  the  restaurant  was 
open.  One  train  was  just  starting  to  Lahore,  and  another 
to  Delhi,  Agra,  and  Allahabad. 

I  paid  for  my  journey  to  Rajpore,  seated  myself  in  the 
coach,  and  wrapped  myself  in  my  shawl  and  travelling- 
rug.  My  throat  was  very  painful,  and  my  teeth  chattered 
with  cold.  It  was  already  one  o'clock.  The  passengers  were 
behind  time,  and  the  conductor  paced  up  and  down  impa- 
tiently with  a  lamp  giving  a  feeble  light,  and  breathed  on 
his  cold  hands  to  make  them  warm.  It  was  difficult  to 
believe,  after  the  broiling  heat  of  the  day  before,  that  WQ 
could  be  so  cold  as  we  now  were  beneath  the  self -same  sky. 
Presently  a  gentleman,  warmly  wrapped  up,  came  and 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  97 

paid  his  fare  to  Rajpore.  I  recognised  his  voice,  and  my 
first  thought,  in  spite  of  my  painful  hoarseness,  was  to 
play  the  hypocrite,  and  take  the  gentleman  by  surprise. 
He  sat  down  beside  me,  but  my  head  was  entirely  envel- 
oped in  my  shawl,  and  he  did  not  recognise  me.  Two 
Englishmen  also  got  in  and  took  places  opposite  to  us. 
We  all  packed  ourselves  as  best  we  could,  and,  although 
no  one  spoke,  we  knew  that  we  were  all  freezing ;  our 
teeth  chattered  dreadfully.  The  stage-coach  was  in  a 
bad  condition ;  the  front  was  open,  and  the  two  sides  were 
only  partially  covered  in.  As  the  day  broke,  it  was 
bitterly  cold ;  nobody  showed  his  face  or  ventured  on  a 
peep  into  the  open  air.  "  Good  morning,  Mr.  Snyder," 
exclaimed  a  hoarse  voice  from  a  deep  recess.  Mr.  S. 
looked  round,  startled,  and  said,  "  Is  that  your  voice,  Miss 
W.  ? "  A  hoarse  "  yes,"  was  my  answer.  "  "What  a 
pleasant  surprise  ! "  he  added ;  "  why  did  you  not  tell  me 
you  were  here  before  ? " 

Mr.  S.  was  travelling  as  the  agent  of  the  American 
government,  and  had  come  to  Calcutta  on  the  steamer 
Glenarthney,  on  which  I  had  last  seen  him.  The  gentle- 
man showed  great  pity  for  my  hoarse  throat,  and  when  we 
reached  the  first  bungalow,  he  went  and  brought  a  glass 
of  hot  milk  for  each  of  us,  and  this  he  did  at  all  the 
bungalows  we  passed. 

The  early  morning  was  even  colder  than  the  night,  and, 
for  the  first  time  in  India,  I  was  glad  to  see  the  sun.  I 
basked  myself  in  his  warm  beams  like  a  frost-bitten  plant. 

We  were  now  approaching  the  Ddk  bungalow,  at  the 
entrance  of  the  picturesque  "  Mohure  Pass,"  forty  miles 
north  of  Saharunpore.  We  already  felt  the  pure  air  of  the 
VOL.  n.  7 


98  THE  NORTH  STAR 

Himalayas.  It  was  a  fine  bracing  morning,  and  as 
my  coldness  decreased  in  the  growing  warmth,  my  spirits 
rose  and  my  enthusiasm  increased.  With  the  rising  sun, 
the  most  glorious  mountains  of  the  world,  the  loftiest 
peaks  of  the  earth,  rose  before  me,  shrouded  in  the 
loveliest  blue  mist.  This  day  was  to  be  one  of  the  most 
enjoyable  of  my  journey,  and  my  heart,  full  of  joy  in  the 
lap  of  Nature,  delighted  in  the  thought  that  to-day  I 
should  approach  those  lofty  peaks  which  are  the  greatest 
wonders  of  creation.  I  gazed  and  gazed ;  the  tops  of  the 
Himalayas  were  struggling  through  the  transparent 
vapour.  But  now  we  were  driving  through  a  charming 
narrow  valley,  shut  in  by  a  picturesque  chain  of  hills 
which  cut  us  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  wall  of 
rock  on  the  right  of  this  romantic  valley  is  one  of  the 
finest  masterpieces  of  artistic  Nature,  and  resembles  the 
solidly  built  wall  of  a  fortress,  although  it  is  merely  a 
long  piece  of  rock.  The  valley  winds  along  the  Sewlick 
range  of  hills,  between  Mohure  and  Dehra,  and  is  fourteen 
miles  long. 

But  what  a  glorious  sight  met  my  eyes,  at  the  egress  of 
this  romantic  valley!  A  far-stretching  chain  of  lofty 
inaccessible  mountains,  their  venerable  white  heads  stand- 
ing out  against  the  azure  blue  sky  in  the  brilliant  cradle 
of  the  dazzling  sunbeams. 

"  There  they  are,  the  highest  peaks  of  the  earth,"  I  said 
to  myself,  in  the  delight  of  my  happy,  joyful  heart. 

It  is  another  seven  miles  from  Dehra  to  Rajpore.  The 
valley  now  becomes  very  wide,  and  wherever  the  eye 
falls,  new  beauties  greet  the  sight.  The  colossal  pillars, 
which  here  so  illusively  unite  heaven  and  the  earth,  how 


AND    THE  SOUTHERN  CEOSS.  99 

vividly  do  they  bear  witness  to  the  omnipotent  God ! 
How  can  the  atheist  or  scoffer,  who  sees  these  proofs  of 
omnipotence,  still  doubt  of  the  existence  of  a  God  ?  How 
can  he  venture  to  declare  that  the  whole  universe  sprang 
from  empty  space,  without  the  mandate  of  a  higher  power  ? 
How  poor  and  pitiable,  how  foolish  is  the  man  who  can 
see  this  mighty  universe  and  all  its  wonders  without  be- 
lieving in  a  Creator ! 

Arrived  in  Rajpore,  at  the  foot  of  the  Himalayas,  we 
took  a  hearty  meal  in  an  English  hotel.  In  the  pure  air 
of  the  glorious  valley  I  suffered  but  little  with  my  hoarse- 
ness ;  in  the  charms  of  nature  bodily  ills  must  fade  away. 
A  being  who  is  enchanted  casts  off  all  mortal  suffering. 
The  proprietor  of  the  hotel  ordered  two  comfortable  sedans 
for  us,  and  we  were  soon  being  carried  by  lusty  sons  of 
the  mountains  up  to  the  little  town  of  Mussoorie,  which 
is  situated  on  a  peak,  seven  miles  high,  of  the  immense 
range  of  the  aerial  Himalayas.  The  mountain  path  was 
very  steep,  and  there  were  eight  bearers  for  each  sedan, 
who  took  turns  to  carry  it,  four  at  a  time.  The  sun, 
though  more  endurable  than  at  Saharunpore  and  Delhi, 
was  nevertheless  dreadfully  hot  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
ascent.  But  the  air  was  cool  and  pleasant,  and  the  bear- 
ers carried  their  load  with  evident  care.  The  higher  we 
ascended,  the  loftier  rose  the  sky  and  the  mountains,  the 
wider  our  range  of  vision,  the  vaster  the  sea  of  majestic 
columns  of  wild  ravines  and  deep  valleys.  We  had  attained 
to  about  a  height  of  5000  feet.  In  the  far  distance,  at 
the  foot  of  the  eastern  chain  of  mountains  I  saw  the 
proud  head  of  the  sacred  stream,  the  Ganges,  a  true  son 
of  the  Himalayas. 


100  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

The  little  town  of  Mussoorie,  although  small,  is  much 
scattered,  and  embraces  several  miles.  Many  houses  are 
at  wide  distances  from  each  other,  some  on  a  height  and 
others  on  a  declivity  of  this  rugged  ground,  which  had 
been  found  suitable  for  a  building.  This  pretty  little 
town,  on  this  lofty  height,  presents  a  very  charming 
appearance. 

There  one  lives  removed  from  the  everlasting  confusion, 
struggle,  and  noise  of  life  in  the  ordinary  world,  beneath 
the  beautiful  wings  of  the  highest  and  most  peaceful  bat- 
tlements of  the  universe. 

One  of  the  first  buildings  in  this  romantic  town  is  an 
English  hotel,  which  Mr.  S.  entered,  telling  me  he  was 
going  back  the  next  da}7,  and  hoped  to  meet  me  at  the 
stage-coach  at  Rajpore. 

"  Mr.  S.,"  I  replied,  "  you  will  not  see  me  in  the  valley 
to-morrow ;  it  is  too  beautiful  up  here.  I  must  enjoy  the 
glories  of  the  Himalayas  for  three  good  days.  Therefore 
I  wish  you  good-bye." 

Mr.  S.  was  one  of  those  brisk  Americans  who  do  every- 
thing on  wings.  He  was  taking  a  scientific  journey  round 
the  world,  and  that  in  a  flying  tour  of  only  six  short 
months  !  Whenever  I  met  him,  he  spoke  of  haste  ;  he 
was  now  still  in  the  north  of  India,  and  he  intended  to 
be  in  Alexandria,  Egypt,  in  three  weeks.  This  scientific 
journey  was  so  exactly  mapped  out,  that  he  could  not  spend 
long  enough  in  any  one  place  to  get  more  than  a  cursory 
superficial  knowledge  respecting  it. 

My  strong  bearers  carried  me  without  a  murmur  to  the 
last  and  highest  of  the  buildings  of  Mussoorie.  This 
building  is  an  offshoot  of  the  French  convent  at  Agra. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  101 

The  nuns  and  pupils  live  in  the  winter  at  the  little  town 
of  Dehra,  in  the  plains,  and  at  Mussoorie  in  the  summer. 
The  summer  however  begins  early  in  India ;  it  was  only 
the  20th  of  March,  and  already,  on  account  of  the  great 
heat,  the  school  had  been  moved  to  the  Himalayas.  The 
emigration  of  the  nuns  and  schools  going  up  from  Rajpore 
to  Mussoorie  formed  a  long  caravan.  But  an  hour  before, 
the  priest  and  Lady  Superior  of  the  Institution  had 
arrived,  and  the  bells  of  the  convent  chapel  were  still 
ringing  out  the  tidings  of  the  arrival  of  the  honoured 
pair. 

"Wearisome  transportations  such  as  this  take  place  every- 
where. The  work  is  done  by  the  good-natured  natives, 
who,  as  I  could  not  but  recognise  in  all  countries  in  the 
East,  are  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  wretched  slaves 
of  the  Europeans  and  of  their  own  high-caste  fellow- 
countrymen.  Fortunately,  the  lower  caste  of  Hindus  are 
born  with  the  notion  that  they  are  the  servants  and  slaves 
of  the  higher.  India,  above  every  other  country  of  Asia, 
possesses  a  class  whose  regular  business  it  is  to  serve ; 
it  is  the  destiny  of  their  caste,  and  they  know  no  better 
state.  They  are  consequently  very  humble  and  patient, 
easier  to  govern,  and  less  despotic  than  other  classes  of 
servants  who  were  not  born  in  this  narrow  faith. 

The  caste  system  in  India  is  a  truly  terrible  institution  ; 
it  is  a  cruel  relic  of  the  despotic  idolised  rulers  and 
grandees  of  the  past  and  present,  whose  best  and  noblest 
notions  of  righteousness,  and  most  exalted  ideas  of  art 
and  knowledge,  are  combined  with  the  most  depraved  and 
shamefu.  precepts  of  despotism ;  a  strange  union ! 


102  THE  NORTH  STAB 


CHAPTER  III. 

WE  had  now  reached  the  highest  building  of  Mussoorie. 
the  French  convent,  and  I  sent  my  letter  of  introduction 
to  the  Lady  Superior.  The  assistant  Lady  Superior  came 
and  led  me  into  the  drawing-room,  where  I  found  the 
Lady  Superior.  I  greeted  her  ;  but  the  grand  lady,  instead 
of  replying  to  my  greeting,  lookeji  at  me  sharply,  and 
said  in  an  excited  manner,"'  Are  you  a  Catholic  ?  "  "  Yes," 
I  replied.  "  But  you  are  a  Prussian  ;  you  are  a  Germ  an," 
she  added  angrily.  "  You  belong  to  that  barbarous  nation 
which  is  ruining  France.  It  is  enough  for  me  to  know 
that  you  are  a  Prussian,  but,  besides  that,  I  receive  no 
married  or  unmarried  secular  ladies  in  my  convent,  and 
the  Bishop  of  Agra  has  forbidden  me  to  do  so.  I  am 
only  surprised  that  the  Archbishop  of  Calcutta  and  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Keegan,  of  Delhi,  should  have  introduced  a 
secular  lady  to  us." 

The  ecclesiastical  lady  who  thus  spoke  to  me  in  so  charm- 
ing and  Christian  a  manner,  must,  to  judge  from  her  ap- 
pearance have  been  at  least  seventy-five  years  old.  A  nun 
came  into  the  drawing-room  for  a  moment,  knelt  before 
her,  kissed  her  hand,  and  in  this  kneeling  posture  she 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  103 

received  a  few  orders  from  the  Lady  Superior.  As  she 
rose,  I  bowed  politely  and  left  at  the  moment  the  Lady 
Superior  was  saying  something  most  insulting  about  the 
country  of  my  birth. 

I  felt  that  I  had  every  right  to  reply  to  her  in  the  same 
strain,  but  her  grey  head  exhorted  me  to  respect,  and  I 
held  my  tongue. 

The  assistant  Lady  Superior,  who  must  have  felt  that 
the  Lady  Superior  had  grossly  insulted  me,  followed  me, 
and  begged  me  to  excuse  the  venerable  mother's  rough 
treatment,  adding  that  she  was  a  Frenchwoman  with  a 
very  hasty  temper,  and  that  it  was  the  fact  of  my  being 
a  Prussian  which  made  her  so  angry  and  led  her  to  refuse 
to  show  me  any  hospitality,  for  she  had  the  right  to  make 
exceptions  to  the  rules  in  receiving  or  turning  away 
strangers.  The  assistant  Lady  Superior  was  very  talk- 
ative, and  told  me  further  of  another  reason  why  the 
Lady  Superior  would  not  receive  me.  She  had  heard  of 
my  approaching  arrival  some  days  before,  but  there  was 
a  German  nun  from  Prussia  in  the  convent,  whose  brother 
had  taken  part  in  the  war  against  France  as  a  Prussian 
officer.  The  war,  which  had  begun  eight  months  before, 
was  still  a  secret  to  the  German  nun.  The  Lady  Superior 
had  intercepted  all  the  letters  which  her  parents  in 
Prussia,  and  her  brother  from  the  seat  of  war,  had  for- 
warded to  the  convent  in  India  since  the  outbreak  of  the 
war.  But  lately  the  brother  had  written  no  more,  and  it 
was  supposed  that  he  was  dead.  The  Lady  Superior  had 
issued  a  stern  command  that  nobody  should  tell  the  Ger- 
man nun  that  war  was  going  on  between  Prussia  and 
France,  and  that  her  brother  had  taken  part  in  the  bloody 


104  THE  NORTH  STAR 

struggle.  And  the  Lady  Superior  was  afraid  that  I 
should  talk  too  much  in  the  convent,  and  should  let  out 
the  secret  of  the  war  to  the  German  nun.  Such  was  her 
second  reason  for  giving  me,  a  secular  Prussian  lady,  no 
reception. 

The  assistant  Lady  Superior,  like  a  regular  female 
gossip,  also  informed  me  that  the  Prussian  nun  was  very 
highly  cultivated,  and  one  of  the  most  useful  nuns  of  the 
convent.  She  was  suffering  from  home-sickness,  and  loved 
her  parents  and  brother  very  much,  and  was  very  unhappy 
at  not  having  had  any  news  from  home  for  so  long.  But 
the  Lady  Superior  could  not  give  her  the  letters  from  her 
parents  and  brother  which  had  been  kept  back;  the 
brother  wrote  no  more,  she  repeated,  and  had  probably 
fallen  on  the  field  of  battle.  This  the  nun  was  not  to 
know,  as  she  was  very  useful  to  the  Institution ;  and  her 
grief  at  the  death  of  her  brother  would  make  her  unfit 
for  her  occupations,  and  hinder  her  in  the  fulfilment  of 
her  duties. 

How  Catholic,  how  Christian,  and  how  egotistical,  I 
thought  to  myself.  Roman  Catholics  are  taught  to  pray 
for  the  dead,  and  here,  in  a  Roman  Catholic  convent,  the 
death  of  her  only  brother  is  concealed  from  a  poor  nun,  and 
she  is  robbed  of  the  sweet  duty  of  praying  for  him ;  and 
this  merely  out  of  absurd  selfishness,  because  of  the  mourn- 
ing which  would  ensue  on  the  revelation  of  the  secret  to 
the  poor  nun.  She  is  a  useful  member  of  the  sacred 
order,  and  her  grief  would  prejudice  the  benefit  of  the 
convent,  derived  from  her  talents  as  a  teacher. 

Egotistical,  deceitful,  Roman  Catholic  agents ! 

Such  egotism,  in  defiance  of   all  Christian   love  and 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  105 

truth,  I  had  never  before  met  with  in  Roman  Catholic 
convents. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  believe  that  when  the  Franco- 
Prussian  war  had  been  going  on  for  eight  months,  and  all 
the  Europeans,  of  the  East,  with  the  Japanese,  Chinese, 
Malays,  and  Hindus  were  aware  of  the  progress  of 
European  affairs,  that  a  poor  sister,  whose  brother  was  a 
soldier  on  the  field  of  battle,  actually  did  not  know  that 
such  a  war  was  going  on  in  her  own  country.  Yet  the 
matter  was  exactly  as  above  reported. 

In  her  communicativeness  the  assistant  Lady  Superior 
used  several  words  of  double  meaning,  and  it  is  my  belief 
that  the  Lady  Superior  had  had  certain  intelligence  of  the 
death  of  the  poor  nun's  brother,  but  that  she  kept  it  a 
secret.  The  poor  daughter  and  sister  was  not  to  have  any 
mourning ;  she  was  not  to  long  after  the  heavily  afflicted 
old  parents,  she  should  not  weep  nor  grieve,  nor  neglect 
her  duties,  but  she  should  work  as  she  had  worked  hitherto. 
There  were  wealthy  pupils  in  the  convent ;  the  school, 
although  between  sacred  walls,  was  no  exception  to  the 
usual  run  of  human  life.  Earthly  wealth  is  struggled  for 
in  it ;  the  convent  is  anxious  to  heap  up  riches  upon  riches. 
The  French  Lady  Superior  hates  the  Prussians,  but  a 
highly  cultivated  Prussian  nun  helps  to  collect  together 
the  mammon  of  this  world.  She  is  indispensable,  and 
everything  must  be  done  to  keep  her  as  she  is. 

This  is  Roman  Catholic  renunciation  of  the  world, 
Roman  Catholic  love  and  truth  ;  and  worldly  treasures  are 
the  chief  aspirations  of  these  spiritual  women,  whilst  they 
are  apparently  seeking  nothing  —  but  God  and  heaven. 

"When  the  assistant  Lady  Superior  had  again  asked  me 


106  THE  NORTH  STAR 

if  I  would  forgive  the  Lady  Superior,  and  I  had  replied, 
yes,  from  all  iny  heart,  she  told  me  that  in  honour  of  the 
arrival  of  the  Lady  Superior  the  most  precious  relics 
had  been  brought  out,  and  she  invited  me  to  go  in  and 
pray. 

"  No,"  I  replied  positively ;  "  I  am  in  no  mood  to  pray. 
"What  you  have  told  me  concerning  my  poor  country- 
woman makes  me  indignant,  and  grieves  me.  If  I  am  not 
worthy,  as  a  secular  lady  and  a  Prussian,  to  be  the  guest  of 
a  spiritual  home,  a  French  convent,  how  can  you  con- 
sider me  worthy  to  enter  your  chapel,  where  the  most 
sacred  relics  are  brought  out  to  be  worshipped?  Here, 
on  this  proud  and  beautiful  height,"  I  added,  "  I  see  the 
loftiest  point  of  heaven ;  I  need  not  enter  your  chapel  and 
kneel  down  to  your  relics,  for  here  1  pray  to  the  highest 
God  ! "  The  assistant  Lady  Superior  now  understood  to 
whom  she  was  speaking.  She  went  back  to  the  convent 
ashamed,  and  I  went  down  the  ascent. 

The  Rev.  Father  Keegan,  of  Delhi,  had  told  me  that  the 
Lady  Superior  at  Mussoorie  was  a  true  Frenchwoman,  who 
was  often  very  excited  and  hasty,  and  that  she  could  then 
be  very  unjust.  As  a  precaution  he  had  therefore  given 
me  a  second  letter  to  an  English  widow,  who  lived  on  the 
hill  on  which  the  convent  stood,  and  who  received  me  very 
warmly. 

Here,  too,  they  knew  about  the  poor  German  nun,  and 
Widow  S.  told  me  that  the  nun  often  wept  and  bemoaned 
not  having  had  any  letters  from  her  parents  or  brother. 
But  the  French  Lady  Superior  had  exacted  a  promise 
from  all  the  Catholics  who  entered  the  convent,  not  to 
tell  the  nun  that  she  had  received  letters  from  her 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  107 

parents  and  brother,  and  that  the  latter  had  joined  the 
army  against  France. 

The  widow  was  also  of  opinion  that  the  nun's  brother 
was  dead.  The  poor  parents,  who  could  not  be  comforted, 
would  have  to  wait  all  their  lives  for  the  answer  from 
their  mourning  daughter.  They  might  write  hundreds 
of  letters  more,  but  these  would  all  remain  in  the  hands 
of  the  Lady  Superior.  And  if  she  should  die  before  the 
poor  deceived  nun,  her  successor  would  do  the  same.  And 
so,  perhaps,  the  nun's  poor  old  parents  might  die  too,  and 
the  beloved  daughter  never  know  it. 

I  made  many  efforts  to  see  the  little  daughter  of  my 
friends. in  Delhi,  who  was  in  the  convent,  but  I  was  sent 
away  each  time  with  an  excuse  and  a  falsehood ;  now  it 
was  against  the  rules  to  see  the  little  girl,  now  she  was 
somewhere  else,  but  one  rule  always  held  good,  and  that 
was  never  to  tell  the  truth. 

One  day  the  good  widow  took  me  to  Mass  in  the  chapel, 
in  the  hope  of  seeing  the  child.  When  Mass  was  over, 
she  pointed  the  little  girl  out  to  me,  who  was  just  leaving 
the  chapel,  and  drew  me  towards  her.  But  on  a  sign 
from  the  Lady  Superior,  who  had  noticed  us,  a  nun  took 
the  child  away  in  a  great  hurry,  before  our  very  eyes,  and 
went  through  the  garden  into  the  convent. 

But  now  I  have  done  with  this  untoward  affair  at  the 
convent,  and  return  to  the  beautiful  glorious  Himalayas. 
The  weather  was  delicious,  the  atmosphere  cool  and  pure ; 
no  darkened  rooms  now;  no  stifling  air,  like  that 
down  in  the  plains.  Up  here,  I  was  told,  it  is  never 
oppressively  hot  in  summer,  as  there  is  always  plenty  of 
fresh  air ;  and  although  in  the  upper  atmosphere  one  sees 


108  THE  NORTH  STAR 

nothing  but  ice  and  snow,  not  a  flake  of  snow  ever  falls 
in  winter  in  the  little  town  of  Mussoorie  or  on  the  lower 
mountains.  The  winter  on  this  height  is  very  mild  and 
extremely  healthy. 

In  spite  of  the  rough  unchristian  welcome  I  had 
received  in  the  convent,  I  went  to  rest  with  a  light  heart. 
I  was  indeed  upon  the  Himalayas,  and  felt  happy.  I  had 
long  desired  to  be  where  I  now  was,  and  what  I  saw  was 
more  than  I. had  expected,  —  more  than  I  had  ever  before 
seen.  The  grand  imposing  aspect  of  the  Himalayas  is  a 
picture  of  nature  of  which  the  sight  of  the  Alps  or  of 
the  Pyrenees  gives  us  no  idea.  I  was,  as  Widow  S. 
expressed  it,  always  in  rapture  and  feverish  with  delight. 

I  had  quite  got  rid  of  my  hoarseness,  which  did  .not 
return  until  I  was  back  in  Delhi.  It  was  so  pleasantly 
cool  on  the  Himalayas,  that  Mrs.  S.  lighted  a  little 
fire  in  my  room.  I  covered  myself  over  with  three 
blankets  and  slept — oh,  such  a  delicious  sleep.  I  had  not 
used  a  blanket  for  more  than  a  year.  I  begged  Mrs.  S.  to 
wake  me  early,  and  before  retiring  I  pushed  back  all  the 
curtains  of  the  windows,  so, that  I  might  see  the  first 
glimmer  of  the  dawn,  and  not  sleep  through  the  sunrise. 
The  widow  was  a  sympathetic  woman,  and  took  care  of  me 
like  a  good  mother.  She  was  very  much  annoyed  that  the 
Lady  Superior  had  treated  me  so  badly,  and  she  had  found 
out  that  I  had  been  crying  before  I  came  to  her  house.  I 
was  very  restless  in  my  sleep,  and  she  thought  I  had  a  serious 
fever,  so  she  and  her  daughter  took  it  in  turns  to  watch  in 
:ny  room.  But  my  fever  was  nothing  more  than  the  result 
of  the  happy  excitement  of  my  feelings,  to  which,  as  the 
widow  informed  me  in  the  morning,  I  bore  witness  in 


AND    THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  10& 

my  dreams  in  a  most  lively  manner.  When  in  the  soundest 
sleep,  as  Mrs.  S.  told  me,  I  folded  my  hands,  and  said, 
"  Mr.  Snyder,  it  is  so  beautiful  here.  I  must  see  the  Hima- 
layas for  three  good  days, —  good-bye."  I  very  seldom 
talk  in  my  sleep,  but  my  mother  had  noticed,  even  at 
home,  that  if  I  had  been  much  excited,  I  dreamt  very 
vividly,  and  sometimes  spoke  very  distinctly. 

After  I  had  vented  my  joy  in  my  dream,  I  slept  on 
quietly,  and  my  fever  disappeared.  It  was  not  necessary 
to  wake  me.  I  dressed  myself  in  the  morning  twilight, 
went  to  a  lofty  point  of  view,  not  far  from  the  widow's 
villa,  and  awaited  the  sunrise.  The  effulgent  orb  rose  be- 
hind a  lofty  mountain,  which,  according  to  my  estimation^ 
was  at  least  from  5000  to  6000  feet  higher  than  the  Pan- 
gerango,  in  Java.  But  this  mountain  peak  in  the  east 
looked  small  beside  the  high  and  yet  higher  towering 
mountains  of  the  north.  The  sun  seemed  to  find  it  difficult 
to  rise  above  the  colossal  heights.  For  about  half  an  hour 
I  saw  nothing  but  a  diameter  of  glowing  beams ;  the  orb 
itself  was  still  behind  the  gigantic  mountains.  The  silvery 
white  sea  of  snow  on  the  highest  peaks  swam  in  the  glory 
of  the  dawn,  forming  one  wide  expanse  of  dazzling  light 
beneath  the  blue  canopy  of  the  beautiful  sky.  How 
loftily,  how  majestically  towered  the  glistening  surging 
fields  upon  each  pillar!  I  was  still  standing  in  the 
shadow  in  the  tranquil  undisturbed  morning  mist.  How 
exalted  was  the  scene !  above  me  an  ocean  of  glory,  the 
orb  of  light  yet  hidden  behind  the  colossal  structures  of 
the  mountains,  and  below  me  the  vast  green  world  of 
shadows.  With  every  breath  I  drank  in  the  holy  joy  of 
sacred  nature.  My  position  that  morning  on  the  height 


110  THE  NORTH  STAR 

I  had  chosen  was  the  most  beautiful  beneath  the  far 
stretching  firmament. 

Come,  marvellous  orb,  above  those  mighty  giants ! 
come,  descend  into  our  world ! 

It  rises,  and  rises,  and  now  it  rests  upon  the  shoulders 
of  the  Colossus ;  it  rises  higher,  and  now  it  has  reached 
its  summit.  A  running  wave  of  light  flows  rapidly  down 
the  sides  of  the  mountains ;  the  height  on  which  I  am 
standing  is  illuminated,  and  the  shadows  retreat  ever 
lower  down  into  the  valley. 

In  the  Himalayas  I  was  possessed  by  the  strange  feel- 
ing of  being  outside  the  world,  on  the  boundary-wall 
between  heaven  and  earth.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I 
heard  the  noise  of  men  in  the  distance,  but  that  noise  was 
far,  far  away. 

I  went  from  the  height  back  to  the  villa,  and  said  to 
Mrs.  S.,  "  The  sun  is  gone  down  into  the  world ;  I  saw  it 
climb  up  the  peak  there  in  the  east,  and  descend  to  the 
depths  of  the  valley."  The  good  widow  laughed,  and 
was  pleased  to  see  me  so  happy. 

I  was  most  anxious  to  climb  the  "  Kinchin janga,"  or 
the  "  Dhawalaghiri,"  to  see  how  far  I  still  was  from 
heaven. 

It  was  behind  this  mighty  gulf  —  behind  the  eternal 
sea  of  snow  of  these  giant  mountains,  which  tower  some 
28,000  feet,  perhaps  even  more,  into  the  regions  of  the 
air  — that  the  first  human  race  is  stated  to  have  appeared. 

After  breakfast  Mrs.  S.  took  me  to  a  lofty  point.  The 
weather  was  extremely  clear,  and  I  obtained  a  view 
some  hundreds  of  miles  in  extent.  But  I  ever  longed  to 
attain  to  a  yet  loftier  height,  and  when  I  had  reached  it,  I 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  Ill 

wished  to  climb  still  further.     There,  too,  I  discovered 
new  peaks,  and  above  them  more  airy  pinnacles. 

"  Am  I  not  happy  ? "  I  kept  repeating  to  my  hostess ; 
"  am  I  not  happier  than  all  the  kings  and  queens  of 
Europe,  for  none  of  them  have  seen  the  Himalayas,  none 
of  them  have  stood  so  high  in  the  world  as  I?  " 

Mrs.  S.,  who  had  an  accurate  geographical  knowledge 
of  the  far-stretching  heights,  pointed  out  to  me  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Cashmere  valley,  on  the  north-west,  where,  as 
the  children  of  men  suppose,  Adam  lived  with  Eve,  so 
that  I  had  a  glimpse  towards  the  birthplace  of  the  ances- 
tral pair  of  all  mankind.  There  I  saw  a  glowing  mass  of 
snow,  the  summit  of  which  was  lost  in  the  loftiest  clouds, 
such  as  form  the  silvery  crown  of  I  know  not  how  many 
mountains.  The  Cashmere  valley,  as  an  English  traveller 
told  me,  is  a  fertile  corner  of  the  world,  and  is  one  hun- 
dred miles  long  by  sixty  wide. 

According  to  tradition,  Cashmere  was  once  a  lake,  shut 
in  all  round  by  mountains.  An  earthquake  rent  open  the 
wall  of  rock,  the  water  of  the  lake  flowed  away  through 
the  opening  in  the  mountain,  and  a  few  little  streams  and 
pools  remained  behind  in  the  valley.  An  evergreen  field 
now  occupies  the  site  of  the  former  lake,  a  blooming 
Paradise,  decked  with  roses,  narcissus  flowers,  violets,  &c. 
Beautiful  heights,  with  splendid  trees,  bound  the  valley, 
and  above  this  glorious  Eden,  in  a  thousand  fantastic 
forms,  rise  the  heroes  of  nature,  with  a  dazzling  breast- 
work of  eternal  snow. 

As  Abul  Jazl  tells  us,  there  are  no  less  than  12,000 
rock-cut  caves  in  the  heart  of  the  Himalaya  mountains, 
decorated  with  the  most  beautiful  sculptures  and  plaster- 


112  THE  NORTH  STAR 

•work.  These  caves  form  the  town  of  Baumian.  In  one 
of  them  is  a  sepulchre  containing  a  sarcophagus  in  which 
is  buried  the  body  of  a  man,  but  who  this  man  was  when 
alive  the  oldest  native  does  not  know  ;  for  all  that,  how- 
ever, all  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighbouring  districts  rev- 
erence his  corpse.  In  this  town  of  Baumian,  a  temple 
richly  decorated  with  carvings  and  paintings  was  discov- 
ered cut  into  the  living  rock.  A  Persian  tradition  indicates 
this  region  as  the  abode  of  the  progenitors  of  mankind. 

The  Brahmins,  when  they  pray,  turn  themselves  with 
superstitious  reverence  towards  the  city  of  Baumian, 
towards  the  north  of  the  Himalayas.  The  Mahomme- 
dans,  as  I  saw,  turned  towards  the  east,  towards  the  city 
of  Mecca.  So  that  the  superstitions  of  the  two  sects  differ 
but  little  from  each  other. 

The  Himalayas  extend  right  across  the  north  of  India, 
and  form  the  boundary  between  that  country  and  Thibet. 
On  the  journey  between  Saharunpore  and  Rajpore  I  saw 
a  few  Thibetans  who  were  coming  direct  from  their  native 
land.  They  much  resembled  ^the  Chinese  of  Northern 
China ;  they  were  of  comely  appearance,  and  their  man- 
ners were  very  polite.  They  wore  costumes  of  some 
coarse  woollen  material,  and  seemed  to  be  very  mild, 
good-humoured  people.  A  road  leads  to  China  across 
the  Himalayas  and  through  Thibet,  which  is,  however,  of 
very  little  use  as  yet.  The  Chinese  who  live  in  the  fron- 
tier districts  are  described  as  very  shy  and  wild. 

As  I  lay  in  bed  the  second  night  I  heard  a  distant  howl, 
and  Mrs.  S.  told  me  it  was  the  voice  of  leopards,  which 
not  rarely  approached  quite  close  to  the  houses  of  Mus- 
Boorie,  especially  in  the  winter  time. 


AND   THE  80UTHEEN  CROSS,  113 

The  next  morning,  after  I  had  again  watched  the  orb  of 
day  rise  from  behind  the  Colossus  in  the  east,  I  visited 
Captain  Gordon,  the  famous  hunter  of  the  Himalayas, 
with  Mrs.  S. 

This  bold  courageous  Englishman  had  already  brought 
down  many  tigers  and  other  wild  beasts,  and  in  his 
residence  I  saw  the  choicest  collection  of  wild  beasts'  skins. 
One  of  the  most  beautiful  tiger-skins  he  ever  obtained 
adorns  the  cabinet  of  the  King  of  Italy. 

Captain  Gordon  has  rare  courage,  even  for  a  hunter ;  he 
pursues  the  dreadful  creatures  up  the  steepest  heights 
and  cliffs,  and  for  years  he  has  met  with  no  accident  in  this 
venturesome  life.  Every  hunter,  however,  has  not  such 
good  fortune,  and  on  the  day  on  which  I  arrived  at 
Mussoorie,  an  English  officer  died,  who  had  been  so 
dreadfully  torn  by  a  wounded  tiger,  that  he  lay  for  seven 
days  in  his  death  agony,  and  yielded  up  his  spirit  after 
the  most  heartrending  sufferings. 

Mussoorie  is  a  station  to  which  the  English  military 
resort  for  health.  Two  officers  who  had  come  here  to 
recruit,  went  out  on  a  tiger  hunt.  They  found  a  huge 
tiger  and  fired  at  him.  One  shot  struck,  the  other  missed 
its  mark.  The  wounded  animal,  in  foaming  rage,  sprang 
upon  the  pursuers,  and,  as  already  related,  tore  one  of  them 
so  dreadfully  that  he  died  of  his  wounds  in  indescribable 
agony. 

The  tiger  would  no  doubt  have  torn  the  unfortunate 
man  to  pieces,  had  not  his  friend  struck  the  beast  on  the 
wounded  place  with  a  second  well-aimed  shot.  I  was  told 
that  the  torn  body  of  the  wounded  man  presented  a  most 
horrible  sight. 

VOL.  n.  8 


114  THE  NORTH  STAR 

The  Himalayas  are  the  home  of  wild  elephants,  tigers, 
bears,  leopards,  apes,  &c.,  and  many  of  the  most  beautiful 
species  of  birds. 

Once,  when  I  was  standing  on  a  high  mountain,  I  was 
surprised  by  the  apparition  of  a  Himalaya  pheasant,  whose 
gleaming  feathers  have  more  numerous  and  beautiful 
colours  than  the  rainbow.  I  was  quite  overwhelmed  with 
the  beauty  of  the  bird,  in  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  burst 
into  a  cry  of  delight.  On  the  Himalayas  everything 
which  I  saw  was  lovely  and  sweet,  and  everything 
I  tasted  was  delicious. 

Every  morning  I  went  down  a  hill  near  the  villa  and 
drew  a  cup  of  sparkling  water  from  a  bubbling  well, 
bringing  it  back  to  the  breakfast-table  with  delight.  And 
then  how  inviting  was  everything  which  the  good  widow 
set  before  her  guest !  Fresh  milk,  fresh  butter,  the  most 
delicious  cream  and  cheese,  home-made  bread  with  crisp 
crust,  roasted  chicken  or  mutton.  Fresh  cream,  good 
milk  and  butter  I  had  not  tasted  since  I  left  the  prairies 
of  America.  And  everything  was  reared  and  prepared  by 
the  widow  herself  and  her  servant,  an  innocent  mountain 
lad.  The  latter  was  the  baker  and  butcher;  Mrs.  S. 
had  her  own  cows,  goats,  sheep,  lambs,  and  chickens ; 
and  of  game  and  other  feathered  fowls,  there  is  a  super- 
fluity on  the  Himalayas.  In  the  garden  near  the  villa 
grew  vegetables,  salad  herbs,  &c.  The  widow  and  her 
daughters  lived  peacefully  an  d  happily ;  they  seldom  went 
down  into  the  world,  and  Mrs.  S.  told  me  that  she  would 
not  change  her  little  Eden  on  the  Himalayas  for  any 
princely  castle  of  Europe. 

Mrs.  S.  was  the  widow  of  an  English  officer  who  lost  his 


AND   %HE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  115 

life  in  the  massacre  of  1857  at  Lucknow.  She  had  a 
small  property,  and  received  a  good  pension  from  the 
English  government.  After  her  daughters  left  school, 
she  retired  from  Lucknow  to  the  Himalayas,  and  chose 
Mussoorie  for  her  home.  In  order  to  remain  au  fait  of 
all  that  was  going  on  in  the  near  and  distant  world,  she 
takes  in  several  Indian  and  English  newspapers,  and  her 
library  is  supplied  with  the  best  books. 

On  the  third  day,  the  last  of  this  never-to-be-forgotten 
and  charming  visit,  I  did  not  want  to  lose  an  instant.  I 
wished  to  spend  every  moment  in  the  mild,  blue  air  of  the 
Himalayas.  Truly  in  no  district  of  the  whole  wide 
world  had  I  found  the  air  so  deliciously  fragrant  and  of 
such  a  rare  and  pretty  blue  as  here  on  the  Himalayas. 
And  the  blue  mist  was  so  pure  and  clear,  that  it  did  not 
interfere  in  the  least  with  the  view  in  the  distance ;  on  the 
contrary,  it  was  good  for  the  eyes  in  the  glare  of  the  sun, 
acting,  as  I  said,  as  blue  spectacles  to  protect  the  sight. 
On  the  last  day  I  undertook  a  long  excursion  to  the 
higher  heights,  and  saw  hundreds  and  thousands  of  different 
forms  and  waves  of  the  endless  ocean  of  mountains, 
valleys,  and  ravines.  Here,  in  the  heart  of  some  mighty 
pillar,  the  most  awful  abyss ;  there,  a  giant  with  a  moun- 
tain on  either  shoulder,  a  wildly  dashing  brook  on  his 
right,  a  green  flower-clad  valley  on  his  left,  a  terrible 
hump  upon  his  back,  and  an  enormous  column  surmounted 
by  a  brilliant  crown  upon  his  head. 

From  every  green  valley  rises  a  hero  pressing  to  his 
breast  a  young  Goliath,  lifting  his  arms  to  the  sky  and 
leaning  against  its  silvery  grey  clouds.  Another  giant 
stands  by  in  full  armour ;  what  a  mighty  Colossus !  he 


116  THE  NORTH  STAf 

stretches  his  feet,  thousands  of  ells  long,  down  into  the 
valley  beneath ;  his  whole  body  is  covered  with  wounds, 
with  broken  bones,  whilst  the  crystal  locks  of  his  reverend 
head  are  concealed  behind  the  horizon. 

A  whole  army  of  such  giants !  mountain  above  mountain, 
rocks  above  rocks,  piled  up  in  marvellous  profusion  in  the 
blue  air ;  dark  thickets  of  old  shady  trees  clothe  the  hills 
from  the  depths  of  the  ravines  to  the  very  foot  of  the  glacier. 
Mighty  waterfalls  dash  down  from  the  clefts  of  the  rocks 
into  the  awful  chasms.  Wild  mountain  brooks  rush 
stormily  through  the  lovely  green  meadows,  whilst  many 
little  baby  streamlets  run  by  in  humble  timid  loneliness. 
High  up  I  saw  hundreds  of  isolated  rocks,  bounded  by  no 
ravines,  no  chasms,  no  valleys,  with  their  summits  rent  and 
splintered  and  their  mighty  ribs  laid  bare.  Other  solitary 
rocks  bent  their  broken  heads  towards  the  deep  precipices. 
I  stood  upon  the  edge  of  an  awful  abyss,  whose  fearful 
bosom  resembled  a  hell.  From  the  steep  perpendicular  sides 
dashed  a  stormy  stream  ;  from  its  gaping  throat  a  young 
giant  rose  into  the  upper  world.  In  another  place  I 
saw  one  pyramid  piled  upon  another,  and  upon  the  highest 
stood  a  snowy  mountain  which  reared  its  silvery  head  to 
the  vault  of  heaven  above. 

What  startling  alternations !  what  wild  magnificence!  I 
was  standing  at  least  10,000  feet  above  the  earth,  and  from 
here  how  much  higher  I  must  yet  look  to  see  the  loftiest 
peaks  of  the  world !  And  on  every  side  what  a  manifold 
picture  of  exalted  power  and  skill !  Mountains  and  peaks, 
pyramids  and  towers,  valleys  and  ravines,  hills  and  rocks, 
alternating  in  a  thousand  changing  forms ;  what  majestic 
disorder  1  How  artistically  finished  is  this  wild  and  beautiful 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  117 

picture !  I  once  stood  upon  the  "  Pic  du  Midi,"  in  the 
Pyrenees,  and  I  thought  then  that  I  could  enjoy  no  more 
beautiful  view  on  earth.  Yet  what  I  once  saw  from  the 
"  Pic  du  Midi "  is  but  a  miniature  picture  of  the  panorama 
which  I  now  saw  from  the  Himalayas.  But  the  scene  I 
paint  for  the  reader  with  my  feeble  pen,  what  is  it  to  the 
reality  ! 

He  who  sees  the  Himalayas,  he  who  sees  this  stronghold, 
of  the  Creator,  must  believe  in  a  God.  Even  if  his  tongue 
deny  the  existence  of  that  God,  his  heart  must  believe. 
The  wicked  world  and  godless  men  of  science  have  much 
book  learning,  but  when  they  deny  God  and  His  omni- 
potence, they  know  nothing.  There  are  many  fools  who  tell 
us  God  did  not  create  the  world,  but  none  of  them  tell  us 
who  did  create  it.  On  my  journey  I  met  a  clever  and 
accomplished  atheist,  who  told  me  everything  had  been 
evolved  out  of  vapour.  I  asked  him  out  of  what  the  vapour 
had  proceeded,  and  he  had  no  reply  to  make.  But  as  we 
have  got  so  far  already,  and  have  heard  that  everything 
proceeded  from  vapour,  those  who  deny  a  God  and  Creator 
will  soon  find  out  for  us  now,  and  will  tell  us  from  what 
vapour  proceeded.  But  even  then,  when  they  have  told  us 
that,  they  still  know  nothing  and  can  tell  us  nothing.  Fool- 
ish wise  men,  who  deny  God  and  who  consider  themselves 
the  heroes  of  the  intellect,  cannot  create  a  single  lifeless 
stone.  The  beginning  of  time,  the  creation  of  the  world  and 
all  of  us  who  dwell  upon  this  earth,  are  insoluble  riddles, 
known  to  the  Creator  alone.  Throughout  all  periods  of 
human  existence  the  most  ingenious  intellects  have  striven 
to  penetrate  this  secret,  and  in  vain ;  it  belongs  to  the 
Deity,  and  no  mortal  will  ever  attain  to  the  truth.  Men  of 


118  THE  NORTH  STAR 

science  all  dive  to  a  certain  depth,  and  then  —  thus  far  and 
no  farther.  Wise  fools !  So  that  to-day  we  really  know  no 
more  than  others  knew  a  thousand  years  ago.  Yes,  even 
after  all  the  osteological  and  geological  f4tes  of  this  en- 
lightened century,  the  secrets  of  humanity,  of  heaven 
and  earth,  remain  as  far  off,  and  as  deeply  hidden  as  in 
the  first  century.  For  all  that  sa/oants  say  against  the 
existence  of  a  God  and  the  omnipotence  of  the  Creator  are 
but  empty  conjectures  which  lack  every  proof  of  truth. 
When  a  wise  man  of  the  West  says  there  is  no  God, 
he  says  and  knows  just  as  much  as  a  Siamese  sage,  who 
teaches  the  existence  of  a  whole  regiment  of  gods.  I  con- 
versed with  many  wise  fools,  I  heard  the  most  profane 
speeches  and  doctrines  of  the  most  presumptuous  deniers 
of  a  God,  but  nothing  could  destroy  in  me  the  results  of 
the  teaching  of  a  religious  mother.  My  second  teacher 
was  Nature ;  in  Nature,  in  that  most  holy  temple  of  the 
mysterious  and  marvellous  creation,  I  found  that  God  of 
whom  my  mother  had  taught  me  from  my  cradle.  In 
Nature  I  recognised  omnipotence,  and  I  learnt  to  believe 
in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  in  heaven,  and  eternity  ; 
and  I  shall  believe  until  death  in  the  God  in  whom  I 
believed  as  a  child. 

How  poor  is  man  who  can  gaze  upon  Nature  and  still 
doubt,  who  lives  but  to  vanish  for  ever,  who  never  has  a 
higher  aim,  who  never  learns  to  know  a  nobler  ambition ; 
how  poor  is  such  a  man  ! 

Ah,  reader,  how  painful  to  me  was  my  departure  from 
the  Himalayas  1  Three  such  happy  exquisite  days ;  three 
fete  days  on  the  Himalayas,  red  letter  days  of  my  life. 
On  the  fourth  day,  after  once  more  admiring  the  apparition 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  119 

of  the  marvellous  orb  of  day,  I  bade  my  dear  hostess  and 
her  daughters  farewell.  The  kind-hearted  lady  gave  me 
her  own  and  her  children's  photographs,  and  surprised  me 
with  a  present  of  a  magnificent  and  beautiful  stuffed  Hima- 
laya pheasant,  just  like  the  brother  bird  I  had  admired  in 
the  blue  air,  when  standing  with  Mrs.  S.  on  a  lofty  height. 
The  present  gave  me  the  greatest  pleasure,  and  is  a  much- 
valued  souvenir  of  my  dear  hostess  and  her  peaceful  home 
on  the  glorious  Himalayas,  where  I  was  so  happy. 

Warmly  I  pressed  the  hand  of  the  good  widow,  and  as 
the  cheery  bearers  carried  me  away  from  the  villa,  I  kissed 
my  hand  to  her  with  tears  of  gratitude. 

"  So  leb  denn  wohl,  du  stilles  Haus, 
Ich  zieh  betriibt  von  dir  hinaus, 
Und  find  ich  einst  das  grosste  GlQck, 
Ich  denke  doch  an  dich  zuriick." 

How  solemn  and  festive  and  how  bitterly  sweet  was  this 
morning !  For  the  last  time  I  gazed  upon  the  glorious 
Himalayas,  which  now  will  live  for  ever  in  my  mind.  "We 
came  lower  and  lower,  and  alas !  how  heavy  grew  my  heart. 
With  what  delight  and  with  what  pain  I  looked  back  agajn 
and  yet  again  for  one  last  look !  I  had  picked  a  number 
of  beautiful  large  leaves  upon  the  Himalayas  ;  I  wrote  the 
date  and  a  litte  verse  under  each,  and  sent  some  to  my 
friends,  preserving  the  others  as  a  souvenir  of  the  sweetest 
period  of  my  long  voyage.  Really  in  those  three  days  I 
was  inspirited  and  happy  in  the  highest  degree. 

Once  down  again  in  the  ordinary  world,  I  reached  the 
hotel  at  Rajpore,  and  engaged  a  seat  in  the  post-chaise  for 
the  journey  back  to  Saharunpore.  Two  gentlemen,  who 
saw  me  in  the  distance,  came  to  meet  me  and  shook  hands. 


120  THE  NORTH  STAR 

They  were  Messrs.  Palmer  and  Curtis,  of  New  York, 
whom  I  had  met  a  fortnight  before  on  my  return  from 
Benares.  They  had  arrived  at  Mussoorie  only  the  day  be- 
fore, and  were  already  going  back.  I  chid  them  for  not 
paying  the  beautiful  Himalayas  a  longer  visit.  I  heard 
from  them  that  they  had  met  the  first  American  gentle- 
man, with  whom  I  had  come  from  Saharunpore  to  Mus- 
soorie, in  the  first-named  place,  from  which  he  was  going 
to  Bombay.  I  call  that  rapid  travelling,  but  one  cannot 
enjoy  or  learn  much  in  it. 

At  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  left  Rajpore.  In  the 
post-chaise  sat  the  two  Americans  and  I,  with  Captain 
Gordon,  the  celebrated  hunter  of  the  Himalayas.  When 
I  came  down  from  the  proud  heights  into  the  valley,  I  was 
as  healthy  as  a  fish,  but  when  back  again  in  the  heat  of 
the  lower  world,  my  complaint  returned.  "What  had  been 
cured  in  the  lofty  healthy  atmosphere  of  the  Himalayas, 
was  brought  on  again  by  the  oppressive  air  of  the  plains, 
and  when  I  got  to  my  friends  in  Delhi  the  next  morning, 
I  was  as  hoarse  and  unwell  as  I  was  when  I  started  for  the 
north. 

As  we  passed  along  the  Sewlick  range  of  hills  we  saw 
many  wild  apes  close  to  the  path.  They  had  long  bodies 
and  enormously  long  tails.  They  looked  at  us  in  a  mock- 
ing and  insolent  manner,  and  following  us  in  threes  or 
fours,  from  one  tree  to  another,  threw  stones  back  after 
our  carriage.  Monkeys  are  certainly  the  most  hideous  of 
all  animals  that  resembles  man :  a  pleasant  idea,  that  sug- 
gested to  us  by  Mr.  Darwin ! 

Late  in  the  evening  we  reached  Saharunpore.  During 
the  drive  I  had  told  the  incident  of  the  night  when  I 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  121 

was  left  in  the  darkness  of  the  bungalow,  and  had  no 
opportunity  to  pay  my  reckoning. 

On  our  arrival  we  went  to  the  same  bungalow  and  took 
dinner.  The  good  old  Hindu  came  to  me,  laughing,  and  I 
paid  him  what  I  owed  him.  Captain  Gordon  entertained 
us  with  some  very  interesting  anecdotes  of  his  hunter's  life 
in  the  wild  ravines  and  abysses  of  the  Himalayas.  This 
hunter  is  of  gigantic  stature,  and  every  movement  of  his 
body  is  full  of  elasticity  and  power ;  he  has  the  appearance 
of  the  most  robust  health,  and  was  full  of  the  merriest 
wit  and  humour. 

Captain  G.  and  the  two  American  gentlemen  started  for 
Lahore  at  one  o'clock  in  the  morning.  At  half -past  twelve 
the  gentlemen  went  to  the  telegraph  office  with  me,  and  I 
let  my  friends  in  Delhi  know  that  I  should  start  at  mid- 
night, and  should  arrive  there  the  next  day. 

I  arrived  in  Delhi  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  Mr. 
Moll  met  me  at  the  station.  Mrs.  Moll  and  her  pretty 
baby  were  ill  in  health  from  the  great  heat,  and  so  was  I. 
And  yet  people  called  this  terrible  enervating  heat  only  the 
beginning  of  the  hot  season.  Judging,  therefore,  from  what 
India  was  in  March,  it  must  be  an  awful  furnace  in  the 
summer.  I  rested,  if  it  could  be  called  resting  in  such  a 
scorching  atmosphere,  for  a  few  days.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moll 
were  extremely  good  to  me.  The  poor  baby  cried  a  great 
deal,  and  I  pitied  the  little  angel  and  her  dear  mother 
from  my  heart.  The  ayah,  a  young  Hindu  girl,  also  went 
about  in  a  languid  listless  manner,  and  was  not  of  much 
use  to  her  mistress. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moll  were  indignant  at  hearing  that  the 
Lady  Superior  had  treated  me  in  such  a  harsh  and  un- 


122  THE  NORTH  STAR 

friendly  manner,  and  had  refused  to  let  me  see  their  little 
daughter.  Mr.  Moll  at  once  wrote  to  the  Lady  Superior 
and  expressed  his  dissatisfaction  in  the  strongest  terms. 
But  the  letter  was  hardly  sent  to  the  post  when  Mrs.  Moll 
received  one  from  her  little  daughter.  "  This  letter  is  not 
from  my  child,"  said  Mrs.  Moll,  when  she  had  read  the  lines 
through  ;  "  a  child  of  seven  years  old  cannot  write  like  this  ; 
the  letter  is  the  sweet  well-considered  dictation  of  con- 
ventual smartness."  The  innocent  child  told  her  mother 
how  grieved  she  had  been  not  to  see  the  dear  German  lady 
who  had  come  from  her  mother  in  Delhi,  but  the  dear 
lady  had  always  wished  to  see  her  at  a  time  when  the  rules 
of  the  convent  did  not  permit  her  to  leave  her  lessons. 
The  letter  was  untrue,  for  I  was  close  to  the  child  in  the 
chapel,  and  she  was  taken  away  on  a  sign  from  the  Lady 
Superior.  Throughout  the  lines  of  their  innocent  child 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Moll  recognised  the  lying  dictation  of  a  nun, 
and  Mr.  Moll  at  once  wrote  a  second  letter  to  the  Lady 
Superior,  and  told  her  that  he  wished  his  child  to  learn 
truth,  and  to  have  truth  dictated  to  her,  not  lies,  otherwise 
he  would  be  compelled  to  have  her  sent  home.  He 
would  have  done  so  at  once,  but  there  was  no  Protestant 
school  in  Delhi,  and  it  was  not  desirable  to  take  her 
away  from  the  Himalayas  in  the  great  heat.  The  child's 
letter  did  not  surprise  me,  for  since  I  had  been  in  the 
convent  at  Augsburg,  in  Bavaria,  I  have  firmly  believed  that 
truth  is  no  principle  of  Catholic  convents,  and  no  principle 
of  conventual  education.  In  plain  language,  the  virtue  of 
truth  does  not  exist  in  convents,  and  the  most  beautiful 
doctrines  of  Christ  are  not  followed.  Convents  have  their 
own  laws,  and  only  that  is  said  which  is  to  the  advantage 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  123 

of  the  convent.  Much  may  be  found  in  convents,  but 
truth  can  never  be  found  there. 

The  day  before  I  left,  my  hostess  invited  the  Rev.  Father 
Keegan  to  tea,  and  I  could  not  avoid  telling  him  how  the 
Lady  Superior  at  Mussoorie  had  treated  me,  and  how  the 
poor  German  nun  was  deceived  and  imposed  upon. 

"  That  is  conventual,"  said  the  gentleman,  in  a  dis- 
satisfied tone  ;  "  that  is  quite  conventual." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Keegan  was,  as  I  have  already  stated,  very 
liberal  minded,  and  a  true  Catholic;  he  thought  it  no 
crime  to  sit  at  table  and  pray  with  Protestants,  and  I  told 
him  with  readiness  of  all  the  sufferings  I  had  endured 
through  the  bigotry  and  fanaticism  of  some  people  I  met, 
and  in  consequence  of  the  severe  rules  and  fasts  in  some 
convents.  The  conversation  was  as  amusing,  as  interest- 
ing, and  finally  the  Rev.  Dr.  Keegan  spoke  of  a  German 
convent  in  Allahabad.  He  told  me  the  Lady  Superior  there 
would  certainly  receive  me  better  than  the  Lady  Superior* 
at  Musoorie  had  done.  On  further  inquiry  I  learnt  that 
the  German  convent  in  Allahabad  was  the  same  as  that 
about  which  Madame  Amalie  von  Engel,  at  Frankfort-on- 
the-Maine,  had  told  me  something  five  years  before,  when  I 
was  her  guest.  The  convent  at  Allahabad  belonged  to  the 
same  order  as  that  in  which  I  had  stayed  at  Augs- 
burg. Madame  Amalie  von  Engel  had  been  a  true  and 
motherly  friend  to  me,  and  I  was  very  fond  of  her.  I  knew 
that  she  took  great  interest  in  the  progress  of  the 
convent  at  Allahabad,  and  I  determined  to  visit  it,  so  that 
I  might  be  able  to  tell  her  something  which  would  interest 
her  on  my  return  to  Frankfort.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Keegan 
recommended  me  to  the  Lady  Superior,  and  gave  me  a 


124  THE  NORTH  STAR 

letter  to  the  Jesuit  father,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Francis,  of 
Allahabad,  and  another  to  the  Jesuit  Father,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Cooke,  of  Bombay. 

On  the  24th  of  March  I  left  my  good  friends  in  Delhi. 
The  poor  baby  was  ill,  and  her  mother  was  in  great 
trouble. 

My  countryman,  Mr.  R.,  presented  me  with  two  pairs  of 
the  beautiful  snow-white  dancing  pigeons,  of  which  one 
sees  hundreds  in  the  Delhi  markets. 

The  pretty  h'ttle  creatures  gave  me  a  great  deal  of 
pleasure.  Mr.  R.  had  clipped  their  wings,  and  they 
could  not  fly  away.  I  was  alone  in  my  carriage,  so  I  let 
them  out  of  their  cage,  and  they  danced  about  as  nicely 
as  possible. 

I  passed  Cawnpore,  and  wished  to  avail  myself  of  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  the  chief  scene  of  the  dreadful 
massacre  of  1857. 

But  when  I  stepped  out  of  the  carriage  into  the  full 
light  of  the  glowing  sun,  I  lost  all  energy.  Fortunately 
I  saw  two  gentlemen,  a  German  and  an  Englishman, 
whom  I  had  previously  met  in  Agra,  and  I  screwed  up 
courage  to  go  with  them  to  the  English  cemetery.  Near 
the  cemetery  is  the  beautiful  and  melancholy  monument, 
beneath  which  rest  thirty  English  women  and  children 
who  were  murdered  by  the  Sepoys  in  the  massacre  of 
185T.  I  stood  for  a  long  time  before  the  monument,  and 
turned  away  with  emotion  from  the  angelic  figure  holding 
the  palms  of  peace. 

I  left  Cawnpore  the  same  evening,  reached  Allahabad 
early  the  next  morning,  and  drove  to  the  convent  of  St. 
Alarie,  which  is  about  three  miles  outside  of  the  town. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  125 

I  gave  the  Lady  Superior  Marie  von  Hoffmann  the 
letter  of  introduction  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  K.  of  Delhi. 
The  Lady  Superior  told  me  that  she  had  lately,  with  the 
approval  of  her  spiritual  adviser,  established  a  rule  to 
receive  no  married  lady,  but  as  I  was  not  married,  she 
would  consider  whether  she  could  receive  me.  I  then 
told  her  that  I  was  a  friend  of  the  Lady  Superior  Amalie 
von  Engel,  of  Frankf  ort-on-the-Maine,  and  that  my  wish  to 
bring  her  the  latest  news  of  the  progress  of  the  convent 
on  my  return  home  had  induced  me  to  interrupt  my 
journey  and  to  call  at  the  convent.  To  my  great  grief 
I  had  now  to  learn  that  my  good  friend  was  dead ;  the 
Lady  Superior  of  Allahabad  had  had  news  of  her  death 
two  months  previously.  I  felt  very  sad,  for  the  dear 
lady  who  was  gone  had  shown  me  much  kindness  and 
affection,  and  in  her  position  as  the  superior  of  a  Catholic 
convent  she  was  a  Catholic  of  rare  qualities  and  great 
liberality.  I  say  rare,  for  she  loved  truth  as  the  highest 
virtue,  and  truth  in  convents  is  a  very  rare  virtue  ;  besides, 
she  had  always  spoken  kindly  to  me  regarding  Protestants, 
and  in  her  opinions  and  judgments  had  shown  a  very 
liberal  spirit.  As  my  friend  was  no  more,  I  could  tell 
her  nothing  on  my  return  home,  and  I  saw  no  reason  for 
remaining  in  the  convent  at  Allahabad.  I  was  indeed 
very  tired ;  the  dreadful  heat  and  the  night  journey  had 
quite  exhausted  me.  But  the  Lady  Superior  Marie  von 
Hoffmann  treated  me  very  coldly,  and  her  way  of  speaking 
discouraged  me  from  staying.  My  carriage  was  waiting 
at  the  door,  and  I  prepared  to  drive  back  to  the  station. 
The  Lady  Superior,  however,  after  keenly  examining  my 
appearance,  seemed  to  form  a  favourable  judgment,  and 


126  THE  NORTH  STAR 

just  as  I  was  leaving,  she  begged  me  to  excuse  her 
coldness,  and  to  stay  one  day  and  rest.  Whether  this 
sudden  change  was  the  result  of  natural  feeling  or  any 
egotistical  afterthought  I  do  not  know.  I  stayed,  and 
the  consequences  of  my  doing  so  were  numerous. 

The  Lady  Superior  Marie  von  Hoffmann  took  me  into  a 
dark,  cool  room ;  I  fed  my  dear  little  pigeons,  after 
which  they  danced  and  promenaded  about  in  the  bath- 
room adjoining  my  room ;  I  took  a  pleasant  bath,  ate  and 
drank  a  refreshing  meal,  and  went  to  bed. 

The  Catholic  bishop  of  Allahabad  had  returned  from 
the  council  at  Rome  on  this  very  day,  and  in  the 
evening  a  grand  reception  was  given  in  the  German 
convent  in  his  honour.  It  was  fearfully  hot,  and  the  fete 
did  not  begin  until  late  in  the  evening.  The  entrance  to 
the  convent  and  the  building  itself  were  brilliantly  illumin- 
ated, and  on  the  arrival  of  the  bishop  and  the  priesthood, 
I  heard  joyful  music  and  singing.  I  could  not  sleep ;  I 
dressed  myself  and  went  into  the  garden  close  to  the 
convent.  Nearly  all  the  nuns  of  the  convent  were 
German.  Many  fellow-countrywomen  passed  by  me, 
but  none  of  them  seemed  to  notice  me ;  not  one  of  them 
told  me  the  reason  of  the  nocturnal  f£te,  and  I  learnt  it 
from  the  native  servants  who  arranged  the  lights  and 
looked  after  the  numerous  burning  lamps  about  the 
garden  and  convent.  Here  I  realized  once  more  that  I 
was  the  guest  of  a  convent,  and  treated  as  a  secular  lady, 
unworthy  to  take  part  in  a  festivity  of  spiritual  men  and 
women.  As  the  guest  of  a  family,  I  was  everywhere 
esteemed  and  honoured,  and  took  part  in  all  the  enjoy- 
ments of  the  family.  But  in  convents  it  was  different, 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  127 

and  as  I  had  already  long  known  the  egotistical  spirit  of 
the  elect  children  of  God  in  convents  before  I  came  to 
the  German  convent  of  Allahabad,  this  oversight  of  me  at 
the  fete  gave  me  no  particular  pain. 

The  next  day  the  Bishop  wished  to  see  the  German 
lady,  and  I  asked  him  if  the  fete  had  pleased  him.  He 
then  inquired  why  I  had  not  appeared  at  it,  and  I  told 
him  I  had  received  no  invitation  to  do  so.  At  this 
remark  the  Lady  Superior,  who  had  brought  his  Lordship 
to  me,  looked  very  much  annoyed. 

Unfortunately  I  cannot  forbear  from  here  expressing 
my  great  abhorrence  of  the  divine  honours  paid  to  the 
Lady  Superior  of  the  German  convent  at  Allahabad,  and 
the  servile  submission  of  the  poor  sisters.  Here  I  saw 
again  how  my  own  fellow-countrywomen,  how  the  poor 
lay-sisters  of  the  convent  who  did  the  menial  work,  ap- 
proached the  Lady  Superior  on  their  knees,  and  with 
folded  hands.  I  saw  how  they  kissed  her  hands,  when 
they  approached  her,  and  received  the  commands  of  their 
idolised  mistress  with  heads  bent  in  reverence.  Then 
the  mighty  lady  again  stretched  out  her  sacred  hand  to 
be  kissed ;  the  poor  sisters  kissed  it  with  closed  eyes, 
rose  from  their  knees  with  folded  hands,  and  bending  low, 
left  their  goddess.  "  The  same  thing  here,"  I  said  to 
myself,  "  as  at  the  convent  of  the  Angelic  Sisters  at 
Augsburg,"  the  sister  convent  of  the  one  where  I  was 
now  staying.  I  cannot  help  feeling  indignant  when 
observing  the  domineering  pride,  the  haughty  position 
attained  by  Christian  women  who  leave  the  world  and 
wear  the  veil  of  renunciation.  What  a  mockery  of  the 
teaching  of  a  humble  Christ ! 


128  THE  NORTH  STAR 

Allahabad,  with  the  beautiful  bye-name  of  the  "  City  of 
God,"  contains  little  of  interest;  I  drove  once  through 
the  town,  and  what  I  saw  deserves  no  description.  The 
town  is  situated  near  the  banks  of  the  Jumna;  the  inhab- 
itants, formerly  Mahommedans,  are  now  mostly  Brah- 
mins. Allahabad  is  of  importance  merely  as  a  central 
point  of  the  traffic  of  the  Eastern,  Western,  and  Northern 
lines  of  the  East  Indian  Railway. 

In  this  neighbourhood  and  on  the  entire  route  to 
Bombay  there  are  a  great  many  parrots ;  I  often  saw 
from  fifty  to  one  hundred  fly  out  of  a  single  tree  or  bush. 
I  carried  quite  a  young  parrot  away  with  me  from 
Allahabad,  which  I  had  taken  out  of  a  nest  in  the  garden 
of  the  convent. 

The  Lady  Superior  Marie  von  H.  seemed  from  her 
manner  to  gain  confidence  in  me,  and  she  prevailed  upon 
me  to  remain  a  day  longer.  Through  her  I  became 
acquainted  with  a  German  merchant  of  Allahabad,  who 
introduced  me  to  a  friend  in  Jubbulpore.  When  I  left 
Allahabad  on  the  third  day,  the  Lady  Superior  apparently 
liked  me,  her  language  being  very  sweet  and  flattering. 
She  offered  me  a  little  box  of  Indian  curiosities,  and  gave 
me  a  letter  to  his  Lordship  the  German  Bishop  of 
Bombay,  as  well  as  a  recommendation  to  the  Lady 
Superior  of  the  convent  of  St.  Joseph,  in  that  city,  and 
other  letters  to  several  spiritual  ladies  at  various  convents 
of  the  Angelic  Sisters  in  Bavaria.  I  cannot  refrain 
from  adding  a  word  or  two  respecting  the  inhuman,  cruel 
rule  existing  in  the  German  convent  at  Allahabad  and 
in  others,  viz.,  not  to  receive  and  give  shelter  to  married 
women.  They  are  looked  upon  as  beings  made  impure 


AND  THE  SOUTHEBN  CROSS.  129 

by  marriage  and  by  motherhood,  and  unworthy  to  live 
under  the  same  roof  inhabited  by  their  "  virgin  "  fellow- 
Bisters.  Maybe  this  last  paragraph  is  sufficient  to  show  the 
inhumanity,  the  horror  of  this  rule  in  all  its  dimensions. 
Dear  reader,  be  you  man  or  woman,  if  you  love  the  mother 
who  has  borne  you  in  sorrow,  what  have  you  to  say,  what 
do  you  feel  in  reading  this  ?  As  for  myself,  I  could  not 
express  my  indignation  against  the  women  and  men  who 
have  established  such  a  rule  in  any  human  tongue,  and  if 
such  a  rule  did  but  exist  in  one  convent  on  earth,  this  one 
and  all  others,  for  reason  of  its  abominable  example, 
should  be  razed  to  the  ground. 

But,  as  I  have  learned  in  different  convents  at  home  and 
abroad,  it  is  the  inhuman,  the  "  wicked  policy  "  of  many 
virgin  nuns  to  exhibit  in  their  look  and  speech,  and  in 
presence  of  their  weak-minded  pupils,  a  "seemingly 
pious"  contempt  for  married  women  —  in  order  to  win 
the  unmarried  for  their  so-called  "  holy  cause."  From 
this  we  must  naturally  draw  the  conclusion,  that  they 
abhor  their  own  mothers,  who  have  lived  according  to  the 
holy  laws  of  God  and  nature. 

Allahabad  is  about  midway  on  the  route  from  Calcutta 
to  Bombay.  The  journey  to  Jubbulpore  takes  seven  hours. 
The  heat  was  unbearable;  every  traveller  had  a  bottle 
of  water,  but  it  was  so  hot  in  the  carriage  that  the  water 
soon  became  undrinkable.  At  every  station  we  had  our 
bottles  filled,  and  fastened  them  outside  the  carriage,  that 
the  draught  might  keep  the  water  cool  enough  for  us  to 
have  at  least  one  drink  before  our  arrival  at  the  next 
station.  I  wore  a  wet  cloth  on  my  head,  and  sat,  quite 
unnerved  by  the  heat,  looking  like  a  mummy.  The  carriage 

VOL.  II.  9 


130  THE  NORTH  STAR 

was  as  hot  as  an  oven ;  my  face  and  hands  and  my  linen 
travelling  dress  were  burning  hot.  I  was  told  that  there 
would  soon  be  coffins  at  all  the  principal  stations  of  India 
standing  ready  to  receive  the  dead  bodies  of  those  who 
should  die  of  the  great  heat  in  the  carriages,  and  in  the 
summer  the  dead  are  often,  as  I  am  told,  very  numerous. 
I  can  easily  believe  it,  after  having  experienced  the  March 
BUTT  in  India.  I  cannot  call  existing  in  such  heat  living, 
but  languishing,  and  this  wretched  enervation  is  not  only 
bad  for  the  health,  but  for  the  mind.  My  hoarseness  was 
again  very  severe,  and  an  English  doctor  told  me  I  should 
not  be  able  to  stand  the  Indian  climate  much  longer,  and 
he  advised  me  to  travel  to  Bombay  as  quickly  as  possible, 
where  the  sea  air  would  do  me  good.  I  had  previously 
had  nervous  fever  in  my  own  home,  and  a  weakness  in 
my  throat  and  voice  had  resulted  therefrom,  so  that  I  was 
liable  to  become  hoarse  easily.  But  I  never  felt  this  weak- 
ness so  much  anywhere  as  in  the  interior  of  India.  The  air 
there  is  so  dry,  that  the  skin  is  always  quite  rough  and 
never  moist,  so  that  it  loses  all  elasticity. 

My  introduction  in  Jubbulpore  was  to  the  manager  of 
Kellner's  Private  Hotel,  who  received  me  very  kindly. 
His  wife  was  an  amiable  Englishwoman,  and  her  kindness 
led  me  to  remain  a  few  days  longer  than  I  had  at  first  in- 
tended, for  she  wished  me  to  enjoy  a  good  rest  and  to  get 
rid  of  my  hoarseness.  Here,  too,  I  found  the  house  and 
room  darkened,  and  at  the  door  of  every  sleeping-room, 
and  in  the  drawing  and  dining-rooms,  sat  or  stood  servants 
who  worked  the  punkahs. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  131 

NERBUDDA. 

The  aim  of  my  journey  to  Jubbulpore  was  to  see  the 
celebrated  marble  rocks  of  the  Nerbudda  river,  at  Behra 
Ghat,  twelve  miles  from  the  town  of  Jubbulpore.  Mrs.  K. 
was  kind  enough  to  arrange  an  excursion  to  Behra  Ghat, 
and  this  gave  me  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  rare  beauty 
of  the  Indian  moon,  which  was  now  at  the  full.  A  moon- 
light night  beneath  an  Indian  sky  has  its  special  charms ; 
nowhere  is  the  firmament  of  a  clearer  or  purer  blue ;  no- 
where are  the  constellations  grander  than  in  India.  The 
blue  vault  of  heaven  seemed  to  be  higher  above  the  earth 
there  than  in  any  other  spot  in  the  East  or  in  the  West. 

At  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening  our  little  party  left  Jub- 
bulpore ;  and  at  midnight  we  stood  upon  the  banks  of  the 
romantic  river  Nerbudda,  at  the  Behra  Ghat.  An  English 
officer,  Captain  M.,  and  one  of  our  party,  hired  a  boat,  and 
the  gondola  left  the  shore  in  the  most  glorious  moonlight. 
Easily  we  glided  over  the  still  water,  the  high  white 
gleaming  marble  rocks  on  either  side  reflected  in  its  clear 
depths.  The  Nerbudda  winds  through  a  long  unbroken 
marble  chain  of  hills,  the  fantastic  rocks  of  which,  in  the 
ever-changing  light  and  shade,  formed  the  most  deceptive 
pictures.  Here,  in  the  full  glory  of  the  moonbeams,  rose 
a  stately  palace ;  there,  in  the  shadow,  a  majestic  dome  or 
a  tower  with  a  cupola  ;  and  the  moon  shone  so  clearly  and 
brightly  that  we  could  see  and  read  as  well  as  if  we  were 
seated  near  a  lighted  oil-lamp.  A  truly  solemn  silence 
reigned  upon  the  river,  and  for  some  time  none  of  us  spoke. 
Often  a  sudden  bend  in  the  river  brought  our  boat  into 
the  full  light  of  the  moon,  and  the  effect  of  the  quivering 


132  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

reflection  of  the  gondola  upon  the  white  marble  of  the 
rocks  was  fairy-like.  It  reminded  me  of  nothing  so  much 
as  the  changing  scenes  of  a  magic  lantern  —  the  delight  of 
all  children.  And  now,  after  remaining  for  a  time  in  the 
most  illusive  light,  a  fresh  turn  brought  us  once  more  into 
the  solemn  shadow ;  here  and  there  a  wild  bird  roused  by 
the  splash  of  the  rudder,  rose  from  its  nest  in  the  marble 
heights  and  hovered,  bewildered,  about  our  boat.  Truly 
every  pulse  of  the  lover  of  romance  is  stirred  by  a  moon- 
light boating  excursion,  and  my  spirit  was  fascinated  by 
the  sweet  mysterious  beauty  of  the  scene  —  it  made  my 
heart  beat  quickly,  I  longed  to  give  vent  to  my  feelings  in 
poetry  —  but  I  could  not. 

The  spacious  firmament,  studded  with  thousands  of  gem- 
like  stars,  the  smiling  moonbeams,  the  gentle  ripple  of  the 
stream  as  the  gondola  cleft  its  transparent  waters,  with 
the  dragon-flies  skimming  the  surface  of  the  river,  and  the 
images  of  the  silvery  marble  heights,  moving  softly  in  its 
mirror,  set  in  the  framework  of  the  solemn  night,  combined 
to  form  a  picture  of  unrivalled  nocturnal  beauty.  Gently, 
silently  sped  the  gondola  to  the  end  of  the  stream,  and  as 
silently  made  its  way  back  again.  We  had  cruised  about 
for  a  good  hour  altogether,  our  little  vessel  passing  now 
through  narrow,  now  through  wide  passes  between  the 
marble  rocks.  "Would  that  the  scene  could  have  been 
fixed  on  canvas  by  some  painter's  hand,  as  it  was  on  that 
night ;  would  that  we,  our  boat,  the  silvery  mountains,  the 
blue  diamond-studded  sky,  and  the  gentle  moon  could  have 
been  perpetuated  for  all  as  for  us  ! 

We  refreshed  ourselves  with  some  fresh  milk  in  a  cosy 
little  bungalow  on  the  banks  of  the  Nerbudda,  and  in  the 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CMOSS.  138 

early  twilight  our  horses  galloped  back  with  us  to 
Jubbulpore.  An  hour  after  our  return,  I  rode  to  the 
station  on  an  elephant,  accompanied  by  Mr.  R.,  who  was 
so  kind  as  to  see  after  my  ticket,  give  me  a  basket  full 
of  provisions,  and  put  me  under  the  care  of  the  guard  of 
the  train,  that  I  might  not  want  for  fresh  water  by  the 
way. 

•  I  started  from  Jubbulpore  in  bright  and  happy  spirits ; 
but  the  next  night  one  of  my  dear  little  pigeons  died,  a 
pretty  little  wife,  and  the  best  dancer  of  the  four.  The 
rash  little  creature  had  flown  into  my  bath  at  Jubbulpore, 
and  the  water  being  cold  and  the  pigeon  heated,  it  had 
taken  a  chill.  I  did  all  I  could  for  it,  but  in  vain ;  my 
dear  little  pigeon  died. 

The  poor  bereaved  husband  went  about  mourning  and 
looked  piteously  at  me.  I  was  sad  too,  and  I  had  not  the 
heart  to  throw  away  the  little  corpse.  An  Englishman, 
noticing  my  grief,  offered  to  give  my  pigeon  decent  burial, 
and  when  the  train  stopped  towards  evening,  for  the  pas- 
sengers to  take  supper,  he  went  with  me  to  the  station 
garden,  carrying  the  corpse,  and  we  buried  my  poor  little 
pigeon  beneath  a  rose-bush.  So  that  I  had  the  comfort 
of  having  the  innocent  little  creature  buried  with  proper 
respect. 

I  noticed  but  little  of  interest  between  Jubbulpore  and 
Bombay ;  everywhere  the  vegetation  was  parched  and 
brown,  waiting  for  the  refreshing  rain  which  still  held 
back.  The  line  runs  over  the  plateau  of  the  Ghauts 
bounding  the  western  coast  of  India,  and  is  2,000  feet  in 
height. 


134  THE  NORTH  STAR 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day  we  approached 
Bombay,  and  I  inhaled  the  cool  bracing  salt  sea  breeze 
which  blew  from  the  no-longer  distant  ocean.  We  all 
roused  ourselves  from  our  listless  attitudes,  and  the  spirits 
of  the  whole  party  rose  perceptibly. 

It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  remark  here  that  the 
English  railway  officials  all  over  India  were  very  polite  to 
me,  and  that  the  best  arrangements  are  made  at  all  the 
stations  for  the  accommodation  of  ladies.  In  short,  I  was 
made  very  comfortable  everywhere.  There  are  private 
ladies'  rooms  open  day  and  night,  under  the  care  of  re- 
spectable female  servants,  at  all  the  principal  stations. 
When  a  train  arrives  at  night,  a  lady,  instead  of  being 
compelled  to  go  to  a  hotel,  can  very  well  remain  in  one 
of  these  rooms ;  and  if  she  wishes  to  start  in  the  early 
morning,  or  at  night,  she  can  go  to  these  rooms  in  the 
evening,  and  wait  there  until  the  train  starts.  Padded 
sofas  are  provided  in  the  waiting-rooms,  and  in  connection 
with  them  there  are  dressing-rooms  and  cool-bath-rooms. 
Food  will  also  be  procured,  if  required,  by  the  servants  in 
the  ladies'  rooms.  There  is  no  charge  for  the  use  of  the 
rooms  or  for  attendance,  the  servants  being  in  the  pay  of 
the  railway  company,  but  it  is  usual  for  travellers  to  give 
a  fee  to  the  women  who  wait  upon  them. 

I  have  already  remarked  above  that  Indian  railway 
carriages  are  not  well  kept,  and  are  not  made  sufficiently 
comfortable  for  such  a  hot  climate.  These  disadvantages 
were,  however,  more  than  made  up  to  me  by  the  privileges 
I  enjoyed  as  a  lady  travelling  alone.  I  had  now  traversed 
the  greater  part  of  India,  and  was  fortunate  enough  to  be 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  135 

able  to  say  that  neither  from  natives  nor  Europeans  did  I 
ever  receive  a  single  insult ;  indeed  a  respectable  lady, 
under  English  or  American  protection,  is  always  sure  to 
be  respected  and  well  cared  for. 

A  friend  of  Mr.  Ball  was  a  passenger  in  the  same  train 
with  me,  and  when  we  arrived  at  Bombay  he  had  my 
luggage  taken  to  a  carriage,  and  directed  the  Hindu 
coachman  to  drive  to  the  convent  of  St.  Joseph,  at 
Fort  Chapel. 

The  woman  who  answered  the  door  at  the  convent  took 
my  name  to  the  Lady  Superior,  to  whom  I  sent  my  letters 
of  introduction,  begging  for  an  interview.  I  must  add  that 
his  Lordship  the  Catholic  Bishop  of  Bombay,  who  came 
from  Berlin,  and  the  Rev.  Father  Cooke,  both  members  of 
the  Jesuit  order,  lived  in  the  same  buildings  at  Fort 
Chapel,  the  nuns  occupying  one  half,  the  fathers  the 
other.  The  chapel  was  on  the  same  floor  on  the  right  of 
the  entrance. 

After  I  had  waited  a  good  hour  in  the  carriage,  the  Lady 
Superior  had  me  asked  into  the  parlour,  and  told  me  she 
had  not  been  able  to  come  before,  as  she  had  been  at  prayers. 
After  this  excuse  she  surprised  me  with  the  question :  "  Did 
not  the  Lady  Superior  Marie  von  Hoffmann,  of  Allahabad, 
as  she  tells  me  in  her  letter,  give  you  a  large  packet  of 
music  for  me  ?  "Will  you  give  it  to  me  —  I  have  already 
been  waiting  for  it  a  whole  year  ? "  I  was  very  much  worn 
out  after  the  long  hot  journey,  and  told  the  Lady  Superior 
the  music  was  in  my  trunk  in  the  carriage,  that  I  was  too 
tired  to  get  it  out  at  that  moment,  but  would  do  so  as  soon 
fts  I  opened  my  trunk. 

As  the  Lady  Superior  said  nothing  of  the  further  con- 


136  THE  NORTH  STAR 

tents  of  the  letter,  I  ventured  to  remark,  "  The  Lady 
Superior  at  Allahabad  told  me  that  you  would  receive  ladies 
for  payment,"  and  I  added  a  request  that  I  should  be 
allowed  to  remain  for  a  few  days,  observing  at  the  same 
time  that  I  had  in  my  possession  a  letter  of  recommenda- 
tion from  the  right  reverend  Archbishop  of  Calcutta, 
besides  letters  to  his  Lordship  Bishop  Meurin  and  the 
Rev.  Father  Cooke. 

The  Lady  Superior  told  me,  his  Lordship  was  not  at 
home,  and  that  there  was  no  vacant  room  in  the  convent. 
But  she  gave  me  to  understand  that  she  had  another  con- 
vent under  her  direction  outside  the  town,  and  it  was  very 
possible  that  I  might  be  received  there  on  the  usual  terms. 
She  then  apologised  for  not  being  able  to  offer  me  any  re- 
freshment, saying  that  it  was  the  holy  fasting  season,  she 
had  therefore  no  stock  of  provisions  by  her.  Finally  she 
wrote  a  few  lines  to  the  Lady  Superior  of  the  other  convent, 
and  I  drove  there.  As  I  reached  the  carriage,  the  woman 
who  had  let  me  in  came  and  told  me  if  I  should  not  be 
received  there,  to  come  back  again  to  the  Lady  Superior 
at  Fort  Chapel. 

The  other  convent  was  several  miles  off,  but  I  got  on  no 
better  there  than  in  the  first.  The  Lady  Superior — so  said 
the  woman  at  the  door  —  was  in  Retreat  •  she  was  f or- 
didden  to  disturb  her,  and  she  would  see  no  one.  So  I 
drove  back  to  Fort  Chapel,  and  returned  her  letter  of 
introduction  to  the  Lady  Superior. 

It  was  now  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon ;  I  had  kept 
the  coachman  in  my  service  since  twelve  o'clock,  and 
carriages  are  very  dear  in  Bombay.  This  was,  however, 
but  a  repetition  of  what  I  had  experienced  in  the  convent 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  13? 

at  Agra,  and  had  I  not  had  the  greatest  prejudice  against 
hotels,  I  should  have  lost  all  patience  with  the  inhuman 
rules  and  caprices  of  nuns.  To  tell  the  truth,  my  expenses 
in  convents  were  often  as  heavy  as  they  would  have  been 
in  hotels,  but,  having  had  one  lesson  in  Japan  of  what 
hotel  life  might  be,  I  had  firmly  resolved  never  to  enter  a 
hotel  again,  if  I  could  possibly  avoid  doing  so,  and 
my  taking  temporary  refuge  in  monastic  institutions, 
when  the  connecting  links  between  private  families 
happened  to  be  broken,  was  but  the  result  of  that 
resolution.  Of  course,  no  one  will  suppose  I  found  much 
enjoyment  or  happiness  during  my  visits  to  convents,  but 
I  did  find  in  them  the  shelter  I  needed,  and  was  shielded 
from  the  harsh  judgment  and  persecution  of  inquisitive 
and  thoughtless  men,  to  which  a  lady  staying  alone  in  a 
hotel  is  usually  more  or  less  exposed.  I  am  naturally  very 
proud  and  sensitive,  and  I  became  yet  more  so  during  my 
travels;  I  recognised  but  too  well  and  too  often  my 
position  as  a  single  lady,  not  yet  entitled  to  be  called  old, 
BO  that  I  did  all  that  in  me  lay  to  avoid  any  offence  against 
propriety,  and  to  escape  undeserved  censure. 

When  I  arrived  at  Fort  Chapel  the  second  time,  the  Lady 
Superior  again  kept  me  waiting  three-quarters  of  an  hour. 
I  had  tasted  nothing  since  the  day  before,  and  was  suffering 
greatly  from  thirst,  yet  I  was  afraid  to  ask  for  a  glass  of 
water.  Every  humane  person,  who  knows  what  it  is  to 
live  in  a  hot  climate,  is  well  aware  of  what  is  required  by  a 
body  exhausted  as  mine  was,  and  it  passes  my  compre- 
hension how  heartless  and  unfeeling  nuns  can  treat  their 
fellow-creatures  as  so  many  of  them  do.  Secular  ladies, 
with  a  very  few  exceptions,  received  me  hospitably  every- 


138  THE  NORTH  STAR 

where,  and  gave  me  many  a  proof  of  their  kind  and 
womanly  hearts ;  they  became,  and  will  ever  remain,  my 
friends.  But  amongst  nuns  I  rarely  met  with  true  kind- 
ness or  sympathy ;  they  lead  an  unnatural  lif e,  devoted 
exclusively  to  God,  or,  to  speak  plainly,  to  the  interests 
of  the  convent  and  themselves,  and  they  become  one- 
sided and  apathetic.  Such  unfeeling  nuns,  the  bitter 
enemies  of  the  sawed  mission,  the  beautiful  calling  of 
women,  should  they  enter  heaven,  what  cold  uninteresting 
angels  they  must  be !  But  there  is  no  doubt  that  virtuous, 
self-denying,  and  long-suffering  mothers,  who  love  God  and 
the  world  like  reasonable  creatures  and  according  to  the 
will  of  God,  who  provide  society  with  useful  citizens,  and 
give  worthy  heirs  to  Heaven,  will  some  day  be  like  the 
most  beautiful,  the  most  glo?*wus,  and  the  best  beloved 
angels  before  the  throne  of  God. 

After  I  had  waited  another  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  the 
Lady  Superior  told  me  she  could  not  receive  me  without 
the  permission  of  the  bishop,  and  he  had  not  yet  returned 
from  his  walk,  but  she  had  little  doubt  I  might  remain,  as 
I  had  the  highest  recommendations,  and  she  advised  me  to 
wait  till  the  bishop  came  in.  So  I  paid  the  coachman,  who 
demanded  five  rupees  (half-a-sovereign).  As  soon  as  my 
trunk  was  brought  into  the  verandah,  the  Lady  Superior 
again  asked  for  the  music,  and  I  gave  it  to  her,  to  do  which 
I  had  entirely  to  empty  my  trunk,  tired  as  I  was,  for  it  was 
at  the  very  bottom. 

I  remained  sitting  in  the  verandah,  and,  having  had  no 
sleep  for  thirty-six  hours,  I  found  it  impossible  to  keep 
awake.  I  must  have  slept  some  time,  for  it  was  already 
late  when  I  was  awoke  by  a  woman's  voice,  and  opening  my 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  189 

eyes  I  saw  the  Lady  Superior  standing  before  me,  who  in- 
formed me,  in  the  name  of  the  bishop,  that  he  could  not 
consent  to  my  remaining  in  the  convent,  I  must  go  to  a 
hotel.  This  unexpected  and  heartless  order  from  a  man 
whom  I  had  never  seen,  and,  therefore,  could  never  have 
offended,  was  incomprehensible  to  me,  and  it  brought  the 
tears  to  my  eyes. 

It  was  now  eleven  o'clock,  and  a  beautiful  young  Eng- 
lish-woman with  whom  I  had  a  little  conversation  in  the 
twilight,  and  who  was  boarding  in  the  convent,  was 
still  walking  up  and  down  the  verandah.  She  now 
approached,  and,  without  showing  the  slightest  fear 
of  the  Lady  Superior,  she  said,  in  a  truly  independent 
and  English  manner,  "That  is  cruel  of  the  bishop; 
no  English  gentleman  would  treat  a  lady  in  such 
a  manner,"  adding,  "  I  much  regret  that  I  can  do  nothing 
for  this  lady,  for  I  am  myself  only  a  stranger  here  and 
a  helpless  orphan."  This  beautiful  lady  who  showed  me 
so  much  sympathy  had  been  engaged  to  an  English 
officer  of  high  rank,  and  had  recently  come  from  England 
to  be  united  for  ever  with  her  lover.  After  a  prosperous 
voyage  the  steamer  arrived  in  the  harbour  of  Bombay,  but 
as  she  was  expecting  her  bridegroom  with  eager  longing, 
the  sad  news  was  brought  to  her  that  he  had  succumbed 
to  a  fever  a  few  days  before.  The  beloved  of  her  heart, 
he  who  was  to  have  been  the  companion  of  her  life,  was  no 
more,  and  his  body  was  already  beneath  the  sod.  The 
broken-hearted  bride  had  no  relations  and  no  friends  in 
Bombay,  but  through  some  friends  of  him  who  was  dead, 
she  had  found  an  asylum  in  the  convent  of  St.  Joseph, 
where  she  led  a  lonely  life  of  tears.  She  was  an  amiable 


140  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

and  very  highly  cultivated  lady,  and  she  related  her 
melancholy  history  to  me  with  evidently  a  very  painful 
effort.  She  was  awaiting  a  reply  to  a  letter  to  some 
distant  relations  in  Benares,  and  intended  to  start  for  that 
city  in  a  few  days. 

As  the  Lady  Superior  declared  positively  that  the 
bishop  insisted  on  my  going  to  a  hotel,  I  ordered  a 
carriage,  and  I  whispered  to  the  English  lady  that  I 
should  not  go  to  a  hotel,  but  return  to  the  station,  where 
I  should  iind  suitable  accommodation  for  the  night  in  the 
ladies'  room,  and  that  I  should  be  able  to  get  advice  the 
next  day.  I  had  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  German 
consul,  besides  one  from  an  English  clergyman  of  high 
standing  which  warranted  me  to  call  in  person  on  any 
Protestant  clergyman.  Just  as  I  was  going  to  the 
carriage,  a  Catholic  lady  came  out  of  the  chapel  of  the 
convent,  and  the  kind-hearted  English  lady  complained  to 
her  of  the  insult  I  had  received,  and  of  the  unfeeling 
conduct  of  the  bishop,  and  she  asked  the  lady  to  take  me 
to  her  house.  My  beautiful  friend  also  whispered  to  the 
lady  that  I  was  unaffected  and  truthful,  she  knew  that  by 
my  behaviour,  and  it  was  very  wrong  of  the  bishop  to 
make  me  leave  so  late,  and  to  order  me  to  a  hotel. 

I  then  told  the  lady  the  reasons  why  I  would  not  go  to 
a  hotel,  and  offered  to  pay  her  the  highest  sum  demanded 
for  accommodation  in  the  hotels  of  Bombay.  By  this 
means,  the  question  of  payment  was  quickly  settled,  and 
the  lady  took  me  to  her  house,  which  was  in  the  same 
street  and  opposite  to  the  convent.  She  was  a  widow 
with  one  daughter,  and  appeared  to  be  in  good  circum- 
stances. She  had  a  comfortable  bed  made  ready  for  me, 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  141 

and  I  was  soon  sound  asleep.  When  I  awoke  in  the 
morning  I  remembered  the  bishop's  heartless  behaviour 
with  fresh  pain,  and  the  thought  suddenly  struck  me  that 
the  Ladj  Superior  might  not  be  altogether  blameless  in 
the  matter,  for  I  recollected  her  eagerness  for  me  to  leave 
the  convent,  which  eagerness  was  a  puzzle  to  me.  My 
luggage  was  still  at  the  convent,  and,  after  breakfast,  I 
went  to  the  Lady  Superior  and  asked  for  an  audience  of 
the  bishop.  As  the  nunnery  and  Jesuits'  convent  are 
beneath  one  roof,  it  was  easy  for  the  Lady  Superior  to 
take  me  to  his  Lordship  herself ;  after  going  down 
one  flight  of  stairs  from  the  nunnery,  and  up  another 
to  the  Jesuits'  convent,  she  pulled  a  bell,  a  servant 
appeared,  and  she  told  him  to  let  his  Lordship  know 
that  I  was  there.  The  Lady  Superior  then  retired, 
and  I  was  alone  in  the  corridor.  In  a  few  minutes  the 
bishop  came  down  from  the  second  story,  and  I  bowed  to 
him.  His  Lordship  then  opened  the  door  of  a  large 
drawing-room,  made  a  sign  for  me  to  enter,  and  1  sat 
down  on  a  sofa  to  which  he  motioned  me,  whilst  he  took 
a  chair  opposite.  I  then  gave  him  the  letters  from  the 
Archbishop  of  Calcutta,  and  from  the  Lady  Superior, 
Marie  von  Hoffmann,  of  Allahabad.  Having  read  them 
all,  his  Lordship  told  me  that  the  recommendations  were 
very  strong,  but  that  he  had  heard  with  regret  that  I  had 
not  treated  the  Lady  Superior  and  the  nuns  of  the  convent 
with  the  customary  respect ;  he  had,  he  said,  been  very 
much  annoyed,  for  any  offence  against  his  nuns  was  an 
offence  against  himself,  and  this  want  of  respect  had  been 
the  cause  of  my  being  dismissed  from  the  convent  and 
sent  to  a  hotel. 


142  THE  NORTH  8TAR 

It  was  now  clear  to  me  that  I  was  the  victim  of  the 
jealous  and  ambitious  nuns,  and  in  reply  to  the  angry- 
gentleman,  who  addressed  me  in  such  a  rough  manner,  I 
said  quietly  and  humbly  that  in  my  long  journey  I  had 
been  brought  in  contact  with  people  of  every  rank  and 
position,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  but  that  this  was 
the  first  time  that  I  had  heard  such  a  complaint.  "  Besides," 
I  added,  "  I  can  only  render  human  and  not  divine  hon- 
ours to  my  fellow-creatures." 

My  last  remark  made  the  bishop  very  angry,  and  his 
language  was  most  insulting  ;  indeed,  some  of  the  bitter 
words  he  used  in  my  own  language  moved  me  to  tears,  and  I 
stood  up,  bowed,  and  left  the  room,  sobbing,  without  a  word. 

Some  nuns  in  India  seemed  possessed  of  a  mania  to  invite 
me  to  prayer,  after  they  had  wronged  and  offended  me. 
In  the  court  below  I  found  the  Lady  Superior,  who 
asked  me  why  I  was  crying,  and,  like  the  false  hypo- 
critical woman  that  she  was,  wished  to  take  me  into  the 
chapel  with  her  to  pray,  but  I  looked  at  her  disdainfully, 
and  went  my  way. 

The  office  of  Mr.  Gumpert,  the  German  consul,  was 
close  by,  so  I  went  to  him  and  handed  him  the  official 
recommendation  from  the  German  consul  at  Calcutta. 
Having  read  the  paper,  Mr.  Gumpert  asked  in  a  friendly 
manner  what  he  could  do  for  me.  I  then  told  him  how  I 
had  fared  in  the  convent  of  St.  Joseph,  confessing  to  him 
I  had  met  with  a  great  deal  of  injustice,  and  had  endured 
many  privations  in  convents ;  that  I  was  over-weary  of 
my  experience  of  conventual  caprice,  jealousy,  and  bigotry, 
and  I  concluded  by  begging  my  listener  to  ask  some 
respectable  family  to  receive  me  for  the  term  of  my 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  143 

stay  in  Bombay.  Widow  W.,  in  whose  house  I  might 
well  have  remained,  was  an  extremely  bigoted  lady,  and  I 
was  anxious  to  get  out  of  the  atmosphere  of  bigotry  into 
that  of  healthy  Christianity. 

Although  Consul  Gumpert  was  a  personal  friend  of  the 
Catholic  bishop,  my  candid  statement  of  my  experiences 
in  convents  did  not  injure  me  in  his  estimation,  and  he 
complimented  me  on  proving  myself,  by  what  I  had  said, 
to  be  no  bigoted  Catholic,  assuring  me  that  he  was  no 
bigoted  Protestant,  and  added  that  he  knew  the  German 
bishop  merely  in  his  capacity  of  German  consul  as  a  social 
acquaintance,  not  as  a  religious  friend.  Consul  G. 
lived  alone  and  had  no  family,  and  whilst  he  was  con- 
sidering what  family  would  receive  me  well,  he  thought 
of  the  German  clergyman  of  Bombay,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Deimler,  and  at  once  wrote  a  few  lines  to  his  wife, 
a  very  amiable  young  lady,  recommending  me  to  her 
hospitality. 

When  I  returned  to  Widow  W.,  after  leaving  Consul 
G.,  I  found  her  in  a  very  bad  humour.  The  first  thing 
she  said  to  me  was  that  she  had  not  a  complete  but 
only  half  a  dinner  to  serve  up,  for  it  was  the  sacred 
season  of  fasting,  and  as  a  Catholic,  I  must  fast.  This,  I 
thought  to  myself,  is  in  accordance  with  the  orders  of  the 
nuns,  for  I  knew  the  widow  was  very  intimate  with  them 
and  the  Jesuit  fathers.  I  thanked  the  lady  for  her  half- 
dinner  and  assured  her  that  I  had  not  the  slightest 
appetite.  At  that,  the  good  lady,  to  my  great  astonish- 
ment, began  to  pour  forth  a  bitter  complaint  against  me. 
"  I  wonder,"  she  said,  in  an  irritable,  piteous,  and  at  the 
same  time  sanctimonious,  tone  of  voice,  "  that  as  a  Catholic 


144  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

you  do  not  know  better  what  your  duties  are.  The  Lady 
Superior  complained  to  me  this  morning  that  you  had 
greatly  annoyed  and  insulted  our  bishop."  "  With  what, 
and  how  ? "  I  inquired  quietly.  "  "With  what ? "  repeated 
the  widow  angrily.  "  You  know  well  enough  that  when 
the  bishop  opened  the  drawing-room  door,  you  went  in 
before  he  did,  and  that  when  his  Lordship  first  approached 
you,  you  did  not  kiss  his  ring.  You  are  a  Catholic ;  and 
you  ought  to  know  that  it  was  your  duty  to  kiss  that 
ring." 

"I  know,"  I  said,  "that  Catholics  kiss  the  bishops' 
rings,  for  I  used  to  do  so  myself ;  but  I  did  not  know,  and 
do  not  believe,  that  to  kiss  them  is  a  duty ;  to  kiss  a  con- 
secrated ring  is  but  an  absurd  assumption  on  the  part  of 
an  ambitious  priesthood,  and  the  ring  is  but  one  of  the 
many  symbols  introduced  into  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
which  neither  Christ  nor  any  of  the  Apostles  taught  us 
to  kiss." 

The  widow  looked  at  me  with  angry  eyes,  and  said  that 
she  believed  and  did  all  that  the  Church  and  the  priests 
taught  or  required,  and  that  the  mere  thought  whether 
the  laws  of  the  Church  were  right  or  wrong  was  a  sin. 
She  further  declared  that  priests  and  nuns  are  no  ordinary 
men  and  women ;  they  are  (she  told  me)  the  elect  of  God, 
and  in  honouring  them  we  honour  Him. 

The  widow  wound  up  her  sermon  with  the  further 
accusation  that  I  had  not  kissed  the  hand  of  the  Lady 
Superior  on  my  arrival  at  the  convent,  adding  that  she 
was  very  much  annoyed,  and  I  was  no  good  Catholic. 

I  closed  this  interesting  discussion  by  remarking  that  on 
my  entire  journey  I  had  never  once  kissed  the  ring  of  an 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  145 

archbishop  or  of  a  bishop ;  that  I  only  kissed  the  hands  of 
Ladies  Superior  when  their  owners  were  women  whom  I 
could  love  and  honour,  and  that  although  I  was  no  good 
Catholic,  in  the  sense  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and 
of  priests  and  nuns,  I  strove  earnestly  to  be  one  in  the 
sense  of  Christ. 

In  the  afternoon  I  received  Mrs.  Deimler's  favourable 
answer,  forwarded  to  me  by  Consul  Gumpert,  and  he 
promised  to  call  for  me  himself  at  Widow  U.'s,  after 
office  hours,  and  to  take  me  to  the  German  clergyman's 
house. 

I  settled  my  little  account  with  Mrs.  U.,  and  did  all  I 
could  to  part  from  her  on  good  terms.  Towards  six  o'clock 
I  heard'  the  sound  of  a  carriage,  and  in  a  few  moments 
Consul  Gumpert  was  shown  in  by  the  servant.  He  did 
not  remain  long,  and  we  drove  to  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Deimler,  in  Mazagon  road,  where  I  received  a  hearty 
welcome,  and  that  in  my  own  native  language,  which  has 
a  doubly  pleasant  sound  in  a  foreign  land. 

I  was  now  once  more  amongst  liberal  Protestants, 
and  far  happier  than  with  bigoted  nuns.  All  possible 
kindness  was  shown  to  me,  and  I  soon  found  out  that 
I  was  in  a  happy  and  contented  familjT.  Mrs.  Deimler  had 
not  long  been  married,  and  had  as  yet  no  child,  but  a  few 
months  later  Heaven  granted  her  a  dear  little  daughter. 

I  had  told  Consul  Gumpert  of  my  wish  to  go  to  Goa,  the 
chief  town  of  Portuguese  India,  and  the  very  next  day  he 
sent  me  a  free  pass  which  he  had  obtained  from  a  personal 
friend,  the  director  of  a  line  of  steamers  running  along  the 
Coast  of  Malabar.  Consul  Gumpert  was  also  good  enough 
to  introduce  me  to  his  Excellency  Count  Januario,  the 
VOL.  n.  10 


146  THE  NORTH  STAR 

Governor-General  of  Goa.  The  governor  had  paid  a 
visit  to  Bombay  not  very  long  before,  and  had  made  many 
friends  during  his  stay.  He  was  described  to  me  as  an 
unassuming,  upright,  highly  cultivated,  and  extremely 
honourable  man. 

The  steamer  had  hardly  left  the  harbour,  when  I  was 
terribly  sea-sick,  and  worse  than  I  had  ever  been  before 
on  any  sea.  Between  Bombay  and  Goa,  I  saw  nothing 
either  of  the  sky  or  of  the  Malabar  Straits,  for  I  did  not 
come  out  of  my  cabin  at  all.  On  the  Monday  evening 
we  reached  Goa,  on  the  coast  of  the  island  of  Goa,  a 
neck  of  land  between  the  rivers  Narwar  and  Mormu  Goa. 
On  Tuesday  morning,  the  captain  sent  my  letter  of  intro- 
duction to  his  Excellency  the  Governor,  whose  palace  was 
close  to  the  sea-shore,  and  opposite  to  our  steamer. 

A  tasty  little  sloop  soon  put  off  from  land  and  brought 
two  aristocratic-looking  gentlemen  to  our  vessel,  to  whom 
I  was  introduced  by  the  captain,  the  one  being  Dom 
Carvalho,  the  adjutant,  and  the  other  Mr.  Mercier,  the 
private  secretary  of  the  Governor.  The  former  invited  me 
to  the  palace  in  the  name  of  the  Governor,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  I  was  on  my  way  to  the  shore,  with  my  escorts. 
The  Governor  received  me  with  a  very  friendly  speech,  and 
made  me  heartily  welcome.  His  appearance  was  that  of  a 
worthy  unaifected  man,  and  his  manners  were  entirely  free 
from  unnecessar}7  ceremony;  in  short  he  was  just  such  a  man 
as  the  description  given  of  him  by  Consul  G.  and  others 
had  led  me  to  expect.  I  was  very  simply  dressed,  yet  the 
Governor  and  his  entire  staff  treated  me  with  as  much 
consideration  as  if  I  had  been  a  princess  in  damask  and 
diamonds.  As  I  knew  that  the  Governor  had  no  family, 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  147 

and  could  not  therefore  offer  me,  a  single  lady,  any  shelter 
beneath  his  roof,  I  told  him  frankly  that  I  only  proposed 
remaining  one  day  in  Goa,  and  that  the  director  of  the 
Steamship  Company  had  given  me  permission  to  make 
use  of  my  cabin  on  board  the  steamer.  The  Governor 
accepted  this  declaration  with  a  few  suitable  words.  I  was 
spared  all  embarrassing  questions,  and  felt  perfectly  at  my 
ease. 

The  household  arrangements  of  his  Excellency  were 
entirely  under  the  care  of  Hindu-Portuguese  servants, 
whilst  the  officials  of  the  palace  were  European-Portu- 
guese ;  amongst  the  latter  there  were  several  very  intelli- 
gent gentlemen,  but  not  one  of  them  was  married,  and 
there  was  not  a  single  European  lady  in  the  whole  palace. 

At  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  a  sumptuous  dinner  was 
served,  of  which  all  the  chief  officials  of  the  palace  partook 
on  the  invitation  of  the  Governor.  I  sat  at  the  right  hand 
of  my  host,  with  the  adjutant  on  my  other  side,  and  Senhor 
Kiberio,  a  Portuguese  poet,  opposite  to  me.  The  dinner 
was  a  lafrangaise  and  the  conversation  was  in  French. 
It  was  an  exceptionally  hot  day,  the  heat  was  most  oppres- 
sive, and  although  the  food  set  before  me  was  so  inviting, 
I  had  quite  lost  my  appetite  and  could  scarcely  eat  a  mor- 
sel ;  a  glass  of  wine,  which  I  took  as  a  cordial,  was  almost 
all  I  could  swallow.  One  great  aggravation  of  the  heat 
hi  Goa  is  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  ice ;  the  tempera- 
ture, thev  sav,  is  too  hot  for  ice  to  be  manufactured  on 

/  »/  */  / 

the  spot,  and  it  is  also  difficult  to  import  and  preserve  it ; 
so  that  a  really  cold  drink  of  water,  or  of  anything  else,  is 
a  very  rare  treat. 


148  THE  NORTH  STAM 

The  most  interesting  portion  of  the  vice-regal  palace  at 
Goa,  is  a  long  gallery  full  of  fine  oil  paintings,  amongst 
which  I  noticed  full  length  portraits  of  Yasco  de  Gama, 
Dias,  Albuquerque,  Francis  Xavier,  and  Loyola.  After 
dinner,  Mr.  Mercier,  the  Governor's  private  secretary,  a 
most  accomplished  pianist,  gave  us  a  charming  little  con- 
cert. When  it  began  to  get  dusk  the  adjutant  and  secre- 
tary escorted  me  back  to  the  steamer,  after  I  had  thanked 
the  Governor  for  his  hospitable  reception. 

The  next  day,  in  the  cool  early  morning,  the  two  gen- 
tlemen again  came  to  fetch  me,  and  getting  into  the  Gov- 
ernor's elegant  open  carriage,  I  was  driven  to  Old  Goa, 
eight  miles  from  Nova  Goa. 

The  town  is  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  Narwar, 
and  was  founded  by  the  celebrated  Portuguese  Admiral 
Albuquerque.  In  the  course  of  the  forenoon  we  saw  all 
the  Portuguese  churches  of  this  old  town,  which  is  so 
memorable  in  the  annals  of  the  Jesuit  order.  Our  first 
visit  was  to  the  church  of  Bon  Jesus,  in  which,  on  the 
right  of  the  high  altar,  we  saw  the  tomb  of  Francis 
Xavier,  the  apostle  of  the  Indies,  and  one  of  the  great 
saints  of  Roman  Catholicism.  The  tomb  is  only  dimly 
lighted,  and  it  was  with  deep  reverence  that  I  stood 
before  the  shrine  containing  the  relics  of  the  great  saint, 
whose  self-denying  life,  and  glorious  death,  must  compel 
the  admiration  of  all  who  honour  the  religion  of  Jesus. 
A  solemn  feeling  of  awe  came  over  me,  and  kneeling 
down,  I  thanked  my  God  with  all  my  heart  for  having 
brought  me  hither  safely,  and  for  having  given  me  grace 
to  visit  the  grave  of  this  great  follower  of  Christ.  The 
mausoleum  consists  of  an  oblong  pedestal  of  the  finest 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.-  149 

Carrara  marble,  on  which  rests  a  brass  gilt  sarcophagus, 
in  a  costly  and  richly  decorated  silver  shrine.  The 
.tomb  is  in  a  dimly  lighted  vaulted  chamber,  the  walls  of 
which  are  hung  with  the  most  beautiful  sacred  pictures. 
Unfortunately,  however,  the  mausoleum  is  a  little  too  dark 
for  it  to  be  possible  adequately  to  admire  the  full  artistic 
beauty  of  the  rich  carvings  on  the  tomb,  representing  the 
miracles  of  the  saint,  or  to  appreciate  the  effect  of  the 
mural  paintings  as  a  whole. 

Francis  Xavier  (the  companion  of  Ignatius  Loyola, 
founder  of  the  Jesuit  order)  built  the  church  Bon  Jesus 
at  Old  Goa,  which  is  one  of  the  first  churches  of  that 
order.  All  the  churches  of  Old  Goa  are  in  the  style 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  traditions  current  in 
India,  especially  in  that  part  belonging  to  the  Portu- 
guese, respecting  the  life  and  miracles  of  Francis  Xavier 
are  innumerable.  But  the  loving  reverence  in  which  I 
have  held  the  memory  of  the  great  apostle  from  my  earliest 
childhood  forbids  me  to  introduce  these  miracles  here  or 
to  say  much  about  them. 

There  are  many  Christians  who  believe  that  the  saints 
are  endowed  with  divine  power,  and  are  capable  of  working 
miracles ;  others  who  recognise  such  divine  power  in  God 
and  Christ  alone,  and  it  is  to  the  latter  class  that  I  myself 
belong.  Once  my  belief  was  different ;  I  prayed  to  images 
and  looked  into  their  faces,  into  their  eyes  with  loving 
earnest  faith,  as  though  they  were  alive  and  could 
see  and  hear  me.  When  I  was  a  little  girl  I  used  often 
to  go  to  the  celebrated  shrine  of  the  Mater  Dolorosa, 
near  the  cemetery  of  my  home,  and,  as  it  was  rather 
high  from  the  ground,  I  stood  on  the  very  tips  of  my 


150  THE  NORTH  STAR 

toes,  that  the  Mother  of  Sorrows  might  see  my  face  and 
hear  better  what  I  had  to  say  to  her.  Those  days  are 
now  gone  by,  but  I  have  knelt  and  prayed  before  the 
most  celebrated  images  of  the  Roman  Catholic  world.  I 
have  bathed  them  with  tears;  I  have  kissed  them  and 
made  them  offerings  of  flowers.  I  have  knelt  for  hours 
before  the  miraculous  image  of  the  Virgin  in  the  celebrated 
chapel  of  Notre  Dame  des  Victoires,  in  Paris,  and  have 
poured  out  my  childish  grief  to  her  with  bitter  tears ;  I  have 
besought  her  a  thousand  times  to  touch  the  heart  of  one 
so  dear  to  us  all,  that  he  might  love  God,  and  those  who 
loved  him  and  were  so  nearly  related  to  him;  often  and 
often  I  begged  the  Virgin  Mary  to  staunch  the  tears  of 
my  dearest  mother,  but  her  miraculous  image,  surrounded 
with  inscriptions  of  the  most  astounding  miracles,  never 
heard  me.  I  bought  tapers  for  the  Virgin  ;  in  her  name 
the  priests  demanded  small  contributions  for  the  decora- 
tions of  her  chapel,  for  the  poor,  and  for  their  own  prayers 
to  the  holy  Mother;  many  a  franc  did  I  pay  from  my 
hard-earned  money,  but  I  was  always  disappointed,  no 
madonna,  no  saint,  no  image  of  the  Roman  Catholic  world 
has  ever  heard  me.  I  began  to  think  for  myself.  I  went 
on  thinking,  and  still  continue  to  do  so ;  and  I  can  now 
only  wonder  at  my  own  superstition  and  credulity,  and  at 
the  number  of  divinities  I  believed  in  besides  the  one 
true  God.  I  cannot  deny  that  the  superstition  was  a 
beautiful  one,  and,  in  times  of  grief,  a  comfort  to  my  mind ; 
but  it  was  after  all  nothing  but  a  pleasing  deception. 
I  can  never  again  pray  to  any  saint  canonized  by  the 
Church  of  Rome,  for  I  have  lost  all  faith  and  confidence 
in  them,  and,  although  I  honour  and  love  the  saints  (and 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  151 

especially  the  Mother  of  God)  as  the  pure  spirits  of  heaven, 
I  no  longer  ask  them  for  anything,  or  expect  anything  from 
them.  I  now  believe  in  the  omnipotence,  omniscience,  and 
omnipresence  of  the  one  true  God  alone,  and  of  our  divine 
example,  the  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  In  God  and  Christ 
alone  can  I  now  believe,  to  them  alone  can  I  pray,  and  I 
am  no  longer  disappointed,  but  Jappy.  All  Christians, 
however,  even  those  who  do  not  believe  in  the  miracles  of 
the  saints,  must  honour  and  admire  the  faith,  the  self- 
denial,  the  patience,  the  philanthropy,  the  courage,  and 
the  endurance  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  who  was  the  noblest 
and  truest  follower  of  Christ  of  whom  the  Christian 
Church  can  boast  in  any  age. 

«/        o 

In  no  part  of  the  Roman  Catholic  world  had  I  seen  so 
many  ecclesiastics  as  in  Old  Goa,  in  Portuguese  India. 
They  form  quite  a  little  army,  and  I  believe  there  are 
more  priests  in  Goa  than  soldiers.  We  went  into  the 
sacristy  of  the  cathedral  of  Old  Goa,  where  I  saw  no  less 
than  thirty-five  priests  who  were  preparing  for  high 
mass.  Most  of  them,  however,  were  doing  so  in  a  manner 
which  testified  but  little  earnestness  or  reverence,  and 
I  could  not  but  wonder  that  the  older  priests  tolerated 
such  want  of  respect  and  such  frivolity  in  the  younger. 

I  could  only  wonder  how  so  many  priests  as  I  saw  in 
Old  Goa,  healthy  robust  men,  too,  could  endure  to  lead 
such  a  narrow  lazy  life,  and  to  be  of  so  little  use  in  the 
world,  for  their  chief  occupation  is  to  attend  to  daily 
church  ceremonies. 

My  companions  told  me  that  there  were  as  many  nuns 
as  priests  in  Goa,  and  wanted  me  to  go  to  some  of  the 
nunneries,  but  I  told  them  that  I  was  tired  of  convents, 


152  THE  NORTH  STAR 

and  never  went  to  them  now  unless  I  was  obliged.  We 
breakfasted  in  a  monastery,  and  then  drove  back  to  the 
palace  of  New  Goa.  The  surrounding  districts  of  Goa 
are  infested  by  venomous  reptiles  and  by  tigers,  which 
are  a  great  nuisance  to  the  natives.  The  tigers  are  fre- 
quently hunted. 

It  was  very  hot  in  Goa,  more  so  than  in  Bombay,  and 
the  heat  was  of  that  oppressive  kind  which  is  so  exhaust- 
ing both  to  body  and  mind.  Not  a  breath  of  wind  stirred ; 
the  sea  was  as  smooth  as  glass ;  the  atmosphere  was  damp 
and  heavy ;  on  land  one  could  scarcely  breathe,  and  out  in 
the  bay,  on  the  steamer,  things  were  not  much  better; 
superhuman  efforts  were  necessary  to  see  the  little  that  I 
saw,  for  mind  and  body  were,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  under 
the  ban  of  the  elements.  All  I  managed  to  notice,  before 
I  went  quite  off  to  sleep,  on  my  return  from  the  shore,  was 
the  picturesque  landscape  on  either  side  of  the  bay ;  but 
all  nature  seemed  motionless  and  dead,  and  this  lifeless 
scene  had  a  most  depressing  effect  upon  me.  I  felt  as  if  I 
must  sleep,  and  I  slept  with  iny  eyes  open.  The  green 
cocoa-palms  and  the  mango-trees  of  the  beautiful  thickets 
on  the  neighbouring  heights  were  likewise  wrapt  in 
slumber;  not  a  leaf  was  stirred  by  a  wandering  breeze, 
all  vegetation,  weary  and  withered,  drooped  in  dejected 
inaction.  Under  these  circumstances,  my  reader  will  not 
expect  me  to  have  much  to  tell  of  what  I  saw  in  this  state 
of  "  living  death."  To  take  an  intelligent  interest  in  the 
outer  world,  one  must,  above  all  things,  be  awake ;  and  I 
was  not  awake  in  the  stifling  harbour  at  Goa,  but  asleep 
in  broad  daylight. 

The  first  attack  of  this  lethargy,  this  living  death,  I 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  153 

experienced  in  the  Bay  of  Saigon,  Cochin-China,  and  the 
second  in  that  of  Goa,  Portuguese  India.  In  both  latitudes 
I  was  very  sleepy ;  more  like  a  living  mummy  than  any- 
thing else,  and  if  any  one  were  to  present  me  with  the  whole 
island  of  Cochin-China,  or  with  that  of  Goa,  I  would  not 
live  in  either,  but  would  rather  be  a  poor  shepherdess  in 
one  of  the  healthy,  bracing  valleys  of  my  native  Rhine. 

Thank  Heaven  we  left  this  spot,  fatal  alike  to  bodily, 
mental,  and  intellectual  effort,  on  the  second  day ;  but  of 
the  journey  back  to  Bombay  I  have  just  as  much  and  no 
more  to  tell  than  of  that  to  Goa,  and  the  programme  of 
my  usual  concert  when  at  sea  is  already  too  well  known 
for  any  repetition  to  be  desirable. 

How  different  I  felt  when  I  again  saw  Bombay !  There, 
too,  people  complained  of  the  heat,  but  in  comparison 
with  that  of  Goa,  the  temperature  of  Bombay  was  pleasant 
and  refreshing.  The  Rev.  Mr.  D.  's  pretty  villa  was  situated 
in  such  a  shady  spot,  and  my  little  room  was  so  cool  and 
comfortable,  that  I  once  more  felt  alive  and  awake.  The 
mode  of  life  in  the  clergyman's  house  exactly  suited 
my  feelings  and  tastes,  for  in  it  reigned  quiet  simple 
happiness,  true  cheerfulness  and  genuine  fear  of  God. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  D.  is  a  man  after  God's  own  heart,  and  his 
wife  is  a  well-bred,  virtuous  woman.  The  religion  of  this 
happy  family  was  manifested  in  such  a  simple,  unaffected 
manner,  that  their  society  and  happiness  was  an  ever 
fresh  delight  to  me.  Every  day,  without  any  external 
pressure,  the  whole  household  voluntarily  met  to  pray, 
and  the  good  clergyman  poured  forth  his  supplications  in 
words  dictated  by  his  own  heart,  never  using  any  book 
but  the  Bible. 


154  THE  NORTH  STAR 

While  I  was  absent  in  Goa,  the  late  Secretary  Seward,  ot 
America,  arrived  in  Bombay,  and  he  had  the  kindness 
to  send  me  (through  the  German  consul,  Mr.  Gumpert)  an 
invitation  to  join  his  party,  but  which,  unfortunately, 
reached  me  too  late.  I  had  missed  a  similar  oppor- 
tunity to  make  the  acquaintance  of  this  venerable 
statesman  at  Batavia,  when,  through  a  sudden  indisposi- 
tion, I  was  obliged  to  decline  the  Resident's  kind  request 
to  be  his  guest  at  a  dinner,  given  in  honour  of  Mr.  Seward. 
But  on  his  return  from  Goa,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
him  and  his  adopted  daughter,  "  Miss  Olive  Risley  Sew- 
ard ; "  later,  and  shortly  before  his  death,  I  received  a  veiy 
friendly  letter,  in  which  the  kind  gentleman  who  had 
shown  me  so  much  esteem  and  sympathy,  strongly 
advised  me  to  give  the  public  the  benefit  of  my  —  as 
the  veteran  called  them  "  extraordinary  experiences." 

It  was  now  Passion  Week,  and  the  sacred  season  of 
Easter  was  approaching.  I  therefore  remembered  my 
religious  duties,  and,  wishing  to  partake  of  the  Holy 
Communion  on  Easter  Day,  I  went  to  Fort  Chapel  to 
confess,  as  I  knew  no  priests  in  Bombay,  except  those  of 
that  Institution,  who  could  speak  English,  German,  or 
French.  I  was  not  yet  acquainted  with  the  Rev.  Father 
Cooke,  to  whom  the  Rev.  Dr.  K.,  of  Delhi,  had  given  me  a 
note  of  introduction,  for  during  the  few  hours  I  spent  in 
the  convent  of  Fort  Chapel,  I  had  had  no  opportunity  of 
handing  him  my  letter,  and  since  then  I  had  neither  cause 
nor  wish  to  do  so.  When  I  entered  the  chapel,  I  saw  a 
nun  engaged  in  the  decoration  of  the  altar.  I  approached 
and  asked  her  if  one  of  the  fathers  could  hear  my  confes- 
sion. She  went  away,  but  quickly  returned  and  told 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  155 

me  that  the  Rev.  Father  Cooke  would  come,  and  she 
then  pointed  out  his  confessional.  The  father  came; 
I  confessed  to  him ;  and  when  he  had  given  me  absolu- 
tion, I  asked  him  if  he  would  allow  me  a  question  outside 
the  confessional.  "  Certainly,"  was  his  reply,  and  he  came 
to  speak  to  me.  I  then  gave  him  my  name,  and  told  him 
I  was  the  German  lady  who  had  come  to  the  convent  with 
recommendations  to  the  Bishop,  the  Lady  Superior,  and  his 
Reverence  himself ;  and  I  begged  to  know  if  any  letters  had 
been  addressed  to  me  at  the  convent.  The  last  word  was 
hardly  out  of  my  mouth  when  he  exclaimed  in  an  excited 
tone :  "  If  you  are  Miss  Weppner,  I  am  compelled  to 
cancel  the  absolution  I  have  just  given  you ;  you  have 
not  rendered  the  honour  due  to  the  Right  Reverend  Bishop 
and  the  Lady  Superior ;  you  have  insulted  them,  and  did 
not  own  to  having  done  so  in  your  confession  to  me. 
With  such  guilt  upon  your  conscience,  you  cannot  partake 
of  the  Holy  Communion;"  and,  he  added,  "you  have 
withdrawn  yourself  from  Catholics,  and  are  living  with 
Protestants  who  hate  and  despise  us."  Much  more  did  the 
father  say,  repeating  that  he  took  back  the  absolution  he 
had  given  me,  and  that  I  could  not  go  to  the  Communion, 
adding  to  this  that  he  had  sent  a  letter  for  me  which  had 
come  into  his  hands  back  to  the  post-office.  When  he 
had  ended  his  declamation,  I  told  him  that  I  had  sinned 
neither  against  the  Bishop  nor  the  Lady  Superior ;  that 
kissing  a  ring,  or  a  hand,  was  no  command  or  duty,  and 
that  if  he  took  back  the  absolution,  his  conduct  was  not  that 
of  one  acting  in  God's  stead,  but  a  mere  caprice  of  temper, 
and  that  both  the  giving  and  the  cancelling  of  the 
absolution  were  worthless.  With  these  words  I  left  the 


156  THE  NORTH  STAR 

Rev.  Father  Cooke,  feeling  very  indignant,  and  disposed 
never  ,to  enter  a  confessional  again. 

Ambitious,  revengeful,  and  implacable  priests,  such  as 
these,  call  themselves  the  followers  of  Christ,  and  sit  in 
the  confessional  in  God's  stead.  Had  I  come  to  the  Rev. 
Father  Cooke  as  a  hypocrite,  and  confessed  to  him  that  I 
was  sorry  for  not  having  kissed  the  Bishop's  ring,  and  for 
having  failed  in  respect  to  the  Lady  Superior  and  the 
nuns;  had  I  told  him  that  I  regretted  having  gone  to 
Protestants,  and  declared  that  I  would  leave  the  heretics, 
he  would  have  blessed  and  absolved  me  without  cancel- 
ling his  absolution,  and  I  should  have  been  considered 
worthy  to  receive  the  Holy  Communion.  And  whether 
I  lived  with  Protestants  or  Parsees,  what  could  it  have 
mattered  to  the  merciless  bishop,  my  countryman,  who 
treated  me  in  such  a  heartless  fashion?  It  must  have 
been  perfectly  indifferent  to  him  where  I  went,  when  he 
turned  me  out  of  the  convent  late  at  night,  and  ordered 
me  to  go  to  a  hotel. 

I  was  anxious  to  know  whether  the  letter  addressed  to 
me  at  the  Convent  of  Fort  Chapel  and  sent  back  to  the 
post-office  by  the  Rev.  Father  Cooke,  was  still  to  be  had. 
I  therefore  went  to  the  post-office,  and  after  being  referred 
a  dozen  times  from  one  official  to  another,  I  was 
finally  assured  that  my  letter  was  in  the  dead  letter  box, 
and  would  be  forwarded  to  me  by  the  first  post  next  day. 

On  Sunday  morning,  when  I  came  home  from  church, 
Mr.  Deimler  handed  me  the  expected  letter,  which  had 
been  originally  addressed  to  me,  "  Care  of  the  Rev.  Father 
Cooke,  Fort  Chapel,  Bombay,"  but  that  gentleman,who  had 
declined  to  receive  the  letter,  had  scratched  out  the  lines 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  157 

beneath  my  name,  and  written  "  Left  Fort  Chapel  and 
gone  somewhere  else,"  although  he  knew  very  well  where 
I  was  gone.  But  then  I  was  with  Protestants,  or,  as  he 
would  have  said,  with  heretics,  and  his  Roman  Catholic 
prejudices  and  jealousy  prevented  him  from  saying  where 
I  was,  and  dictated  what  he  wrote. 

The  letter  in  question  was  from  Angela  von  Hoffmann, 
the  Lady  Superior  of  the  German  convent  at  Allahabad, 
with  whom  I  had  spent  two  days  on  my  journey  between 
Delhi  and  Jubbulpore  on  my  way  to  Bombay,  and  who 
had  recommended  me  to  the  Bishop  of  Bombay.  The 
contents  of  this  letter  astonished  me.  The  Lady  Superior, 
Angela  von  Hoffmann,  after  friendly  inquiries  as  to  my 
health  and  where  I  was,  asked  me  if  I  had  seen  his 
Lordship,  Bishop  Meurin,  and  after  several  introductory 
sentences,  she  went  on  to  say : — 

"  There  is  a  young  lady  about  twenty-four  years  of  age 
in  our  convent  at  Patna,  whose  mind  is  somewhat 
deranged,  and  the  doctors  say  that  she  would  recover  in 
Europe.  Her  father,  an  opium  merchant  of  Patna,  had 
some  time  previously  offered  to  pay  the  travelling 
expenses  of  any  lady  who  would  accompany  his  daughter 
to  Europe,  and  thought  one  of  us  might  be  able  to  do  so. 
But  as  we  cannot  spare  any  member  of  our  order,  it  may, 
perhaps,  be  a  favourable  opportunity  for  you  to  go  to 
Europe  free  of  expense.  The  young  lady  is  to  be  taken 
to  Nymphenburg,  from  which  place  she  could  be  sent  to 
St.  Zeno,  where  there  is  a  bathing  establishment,  belong- 
ing to  the  Angelic  Sisterhood,  in  which  guests  are 
received.  What  do  you  say  to  this  plan,  dear  Misa 


158  THE  NORTH  STAR 

Weppner  2  If  it  is  not  too  late,  will  you  send  me  a 
telegram  and  engage  two  passages,  either  both  first  class, 
or,  if  you  are  disposed  to  be  economical,  one  first  and  one 
second  ?  In  any  case,  however,  the  young  lady  must 
never  be  left  alone,  but  must  share  your  cabin,  &c.,  &c. 
"  Yours  truly, 

"  M.  ANGELA  VON  HOFFMANN, 
"  Superior  of  the  Convent  of  St.  Marie,  Allahabad" 

I  must  here  remark  that  the  above-mentioned  convent 
in  Patna  is  German,  and  belongs  to  the  same  order  as 
that  in  Allahabad,  both  being  offshoots  of  the  mother 
institution  at  Nymphenburg  (Bavaria),  near  Munich,  and 
the  convent  at  Augsburg  (Bavaria),  in  which  the  reader 
will  remember  I  once  stayed,  belong  to  the  same  order  of 
the  Angelic  Sisters,  all  of  whom  are  connected  with  that 
at  Nymphenburg,  the  mother  institution. 

I  asked  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Deimler  to  read  the  letter,  and 
tell  me  what  their  opinion  was,  and  what  they  would 
advise  me  to  do  with  regard  to  the  request  of  the  Lady 
Superior  of  Allahabad.  At  the  time  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Deimler 
had  no  more  idea  than  I  had,  that  the  young  lady  men- 
tioned in  the  letter  was  in  a  dangerous  condition,  for  the 
words  "  whose  mind  is  somewhat  deranged,"  did  not  lead 
me  to  suppose  anything  of  the  kind,  and  they  agreed  with 
me,  that  I  might  undertake  the  charge  of  a  young  lady 
who  was,  as  we.  supposed,  harmless ;  for  we  could  not 
imagine  that  the  Lady  Superior  would  dare  to  ask  me  to 
take  any  one  to  Europe  whose  malady  was  dangerous. 
We  concluded  that  the  Lady  in  question  was  a  Roman 
Catholic,  as  she  was  now  in  a  convent,  and  was  to  be  sent 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  159 

to  another,  which  latter  was  very  well  known  to  me,  and 
one  id  which  I  knew  the  nuns  were  too  scrupulous  to 
receive  a  Protestant. 

The  offer  of  a  free  journey  did  not  weigh  with  me  in 
the  least,  for  before  I  received  the  letter  I  had  the  best 
prospects  of  a  free  passage  to  Europe.  And  a  free 
passage  given  to  me  by  one  company  or  another,  would 
have  left  me  entirely  at  liberty ;  whereas,  the  acceptance 
of  one,  under  the  conditions  imposed  by  the  Lady  Superior, 
Angela  vou  Hoffmann,  would  be  to  relinquish  my  freedom 
and  to  undertake  a  most  arduous  task,  even  under  the 
most  favourable  circumstances,  and  supposing  the  lady 
to  be  a  harmles  lunatic.  My  first  impulse,  to  protect  the 
young  invalid  on  her  journey  to  Europe,  was  the  result  of 
pity,  and  the  indulgence  of  this  impulse  led  to  a  very 
romantic  chapter  in  my  journey. 

"  I  have  no  doubt,"  I  said  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Deimler, 
"  that  the  lady  is  harmless  and  easy  to  take  care  of,  for  the 
Lady  Superior  knows  me.  I  was  quite  open  with  her,  and 
she  knows  that  I  was  in  the  convent  at  Augsburg,  which 
belongs  to  the  same  order  as  those  of  Allahabad  and 
Patna,  in  the  latter  of  which  the  young  lady  now  is.  She 
is  aware  that  I  am  acquainted  with  the  convent  at 
Nymphenburg,  to  which  the  young  lady  is  to  be  taken. 
She  must  be  telling  me  the  truth ;  she  could  not  be  so 
cruel,  so  heartless,  as  to  deceive  me.  If  the  poor  girl's 
father  hopes  that  his  child's  health  will  be  restored  in 
Europe,  I  feel  disposed  to  take  her  with  me.  It  is  true,  I 
know  neither  him  nor  her,  they  are  both  strangers  to  me ; 
all  I  know  is,  that  an  unhappy  sufferer  is  concerned,  and 
such  great  kindness  has  been  shown  to  me  on  my  journey, 


160  THE  NORTH  STAR 

that  I  am  glad  of  an  opportunity  of  myself  bestowing 
upon  another  some  of  that  consideration  which  I  have 
myself  so  often  experienced  from  good  and  generous 
people." 

With  the  approbation  of  my  friends,  without  whose 
advice  I  would  do  nothing,  I  telegraphed  to  the  Lady 
Superior  at  Allahabad  on  the  Monday,  telling  her  that  I 
would  take  the  young  lady,  and  should  engage  two  passages 
for  the  ensuing  Saturday.  But  in  thinking  the  matter  over 
seriously  in  the  course  of  the  day,  a  doubt  occurred  to  me 
as  to  whether  there  might  not  be  some  monastic  conceal- 
ment of  the  truth,  some  conventual  mystery,  or  some 
interest  of  the  convent  involved  in  the  matter  of  the  young 
lady  thus  mentally  afflicted.  On  reading  the  letter  over 
again  the  Lady  Superior's  remark  that  the  father  of  the 
lady  had  offered  a  free  passage  some  time  previously,  awoke 
in  me  a  suspicion  of  her  sincerity.  Why,  I  thought  to 
myself,  did  she  say  nothing  to  me  about  this  young  lady 
when  I  was  in  her  convent  at  Allahabad  ?  She  said  so 
much  about  the  convent  at  Patna,  yet  she  did  not  allude 
either  to  the  condition  of  the  young  lady,  or  to  her  father's 
offer.  Patna  is  not  far  from  Allahabad.  I  might  have 
seen  the  father  and  daughter,  ascertained  personally  the 
true  state  of  the  case,  and  decided  better  what  to  do,  than 
I  possibly  could  now,  when  800  miles  off.  Why,  I  thought 
further,  was  the  Lady  Superior  so  cold  at  first,  and  then 
suddenly  so  friendly  ?  Was  it  not  all  done  on  purpose  ? 
Perhaps  she  had  thought  even  then  that  I  was  the  right 
person,  and  that  there  was  an  opportunity  to  relieve  the 
Lady  Superior  and  nuns  of  Patna  of  this  unfortunate 
lunatic.  But  she  would  not  say  anything  at  the  time,  in 


AMD    THE  SOUTHERN  CS08S.  161 

order  that  I  might  have  no  opportunity  of  investigating 
the  matter,  and  it  was  probable  that  it  had  been  decided 
to  send  me  this  letter  before  I  left  the  convent  at  Alla- 
habad. Perhaps  some  secret,  or  the  dangerous  state  of 
the  young  lady,  was  the  true  reason  for  wishing  to 
send  her  away.  I  know  how  impenetrably  artful  nuns 
and  monks  are,  and  that  the  wisdom  of  the  world  is 
nothing  to  their  artifices  and  stratagems. 

Harassed  by  my  doubts,  I  sent  a  second  telegram  on 
the  same  day,  Monday,  to  the  Lady  Superior  at  Allahabad, 
asking  her  to  let  me  know  by  telegraph  if  the  lunatic 
was  dangerous,  or  if  she  was  harmless  and  easy  to  manage, 
observing  that  only  in  the  latter  case  could  I  undertake 
the  charge  of  her.  The  fact  of  its  being  a  conventual 
affair  led  me  to  be  cautious,  and  I  gave  my  address  "  Care 
of  the  German  Consul,  Mr.  Gumpert,  Bombay,"  for  I 
wished  everything  which  passed  to  be  with  the  knowledge 
of  an  official.  Tuesday  and  Wednesday  passed  by,  and  no 
answer  arrived  either  to  my  first  or  second  telegram. 

VOL.  II.  11 


169.  THE  NORTH  STAR 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ON  Thursday  Mr.  von  Helle,  an  Austrian  nobleman  and 
friend  of  the  German  consul,  took  me  to  the  world-famous 
Caves  of  Elcphanta,  in  the  island  of  Elephanta.  It  was 
formerly  very  difficult  to  land  on  this  island,  but  when  the 
Duke  of  Edinburgh  visited  Bombay,  an  unpretending,  but 
safe  landing  stage  was  constructed  by  the  municipality  of 
Bombay,  since  which  everybody  who  visits  the  caves  can 
go  on  shore  with  as  much  comfort  and  security  as  did  the 
royal  prince  of  England.  An  easy  flight  of  steps  leads 
up  from  the  beach  to  an  esplanade  150  feet  high,  about 
which,  as,  indeed  over  the  whole  island,  rise  the  Palmyra, 
and  other  beautiful  palms,  with  their  thick  shady  fan- 
shaped  crowns  of  leaves,  bananas,  &c.  In  the  very  centre 
of  the  esplanade  is  the  entrance  to  the  half  dark  subter- 
ranean temple,  which  is  a  gigantic  work  of  human  skill. 
The  outer  surface  of  the  rock  is  cut  completely  away  to 
a  height  of  30  feet,  the  excavated  space  being  300  ft. 
broad,  and  divided  into  four  separate  chambers.  We 
entered  the  principal  room  of  the  temple,  with  its  richly 
sculptured  columns  and  grandly  vaulted  roof,  by  a  stately 
gateway  of  rock.  The  pillars  forming  the  apparent 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  163 

supports  of  the  spherical  dome,  but,  in  reality,  hewn  out 
of  the  same  block  of  living  rock,  are  covered  from  the  base 
to  the  very  summit  with  carvings  of  the  greatest  regularity 
and  beauty  of  design ;  everything  is  so  exquisitely  finished 
that  one  would  imagine  each  column  to  have  been  added 
separately,  whereas,  the  whole  temple,  rooms,  doorways, 
columns,  &c. ,  are  cut  out  of  one  mass  of  rock.  Looking 
from  the  principal  chamber  into  the  interior  of  the  rock,  a 
second  arch  is  visible,  hewn  in  the  living  basalt,  which 
gives  access  to  a  large  inner  room  20  feet  square,  and  is 
the  secluded  home  of  various  gods  One  colossal  figure 
represents  Brahma,  the  triune  divinity  of  India,  the  sym- 
bol of  creative  power,  with  his  head  raised  heavenwards, 
in  calm  and  dignified  contemplation,  whilst  at  his  feet 
crouches  an  enormous  Hon. 

Here,  too,  are  Yishnu,  the  symbol  of  sustaining  power, 
slumbering  upon  a  lotus  leaf ;  and  Siva,  symbol  of  de- 
structive power,  with  a  sword  in  the  right  hand,  and  a 
cobra  in  the  left.  Round  about  this  noble  group  crowd 
the  subsidiary  deities  of  the  triune  god  Brahma,  and  on 
the  ceiling  are  sculptured  some  fifty  beautiful  allegorical 
figures  which  resemble  the  angels  of  our  churches.  All 
the  walls  of  the  chapels  and  rooms  of  this  rock-cut  temple 
are  adorned  with  allegorical  representations  of  incidents 
in  the  life  of  the  Brahminical  trinity ;  such  as  the  trans- 
formation, incarnation,  battles,  victories,  miracles,  and  so 
forth. 

The  Caves  of  Elephanta  were  excavated  more  than  one 
thousand  years  ago ;  they  are  now,  and  will  probably  for 
ever  remain  uninjured,  for  what  could  destroy  the  solid 
basalt  walls  of  this  rocky  stronghold  ?  It  is  true  there  are 


164  THE  NORTH  STAR 

enemies  of  the  Brahminical  religion  who  now  and  then 
damage'  the  nose,  lips,  or  ears  of  one  of  the  basalt  gods 
with  a  hammer,  or  menace  their  tire-proof  bodies  with 
cannon,  but  what,  after  all,  can  either  weapon  avail  against 
the  trinity  of  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva,  in  the  shelter  of 
their  basalt  rocks  ?  What  can  disturb  the  great  god  of 
this  mighty  religion  in  his  solid  mountain  fortress? 
Neither  the  north  wind  nor  the  flood ;  neither  time  nor 
man. 

In  a  little  chamber  cut  in  the  wall  of  rock  on  the  right- 
hand  side  there  is  a  spring  of  the  purest  sweetest  water, 
and  this  was  the  spot  I  liked  best  in  the  Caves  of  Ele- 
phanta.  "We  had  two  Hindu  servants  with  us,  and  whilst 
we  were  going  over  the  temple,  they  got  a  capital  meal 
ready  for  us.  We  took  our  places  in  the  chief  room  of 
the  rock-cut  cave,  and  gods,  lions,  and  pigmies  looked  down 
upon  us  and  saw  how  much  we  enjoyed  our  dinner.  I 
went  and  drew  some  water  from  the  Elephanta  spring, 
which  flows  from  the  sacred  Ganges,  from  the  Himalayas 
I  loved  so  well,  and  which,  according  to  the  Brahmins,  is 
wholesome  for  both  body  and  soul. 

Whilst  we  were  still  at  our  banquet  amongst  the  gods, 
one  of  the  Hindu  servants,  wearing  a  white  costume  and 
a  plain  coloured  turban,  which  fell  right  down  over  his 
shoulders,  went  to  the  spring  in  the  rocks  to  draw  water, 
and  as  he  stood  at  its  edge  with  the  jug  in  his  hand,  a  sun- 
beam fell  upon  him  from  a  chink  in  the  rocks.  So 
startling  was  the  effect  of  the  brilliant  light  upon  the 
bright  red  turban  and  the  snow-white  costume  of  the  dark- 
skinned  Hindu,  with  the  reflection  on  the  water  in  the 
secluded  nook,  shut  in  by  overhanging  rocks,  that  I  sprang 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  165 

up  involuntarily  and  exclaimed,  "  Standstill ;  I  must  have 
a  copy  of  that  picture." 

My  companion,  Mr.  H.,  was  a  painter  of  talent,  and  he 
quickly  seized  his  brush  and  painted  the  charming  scene 
with  masterly  skill ;  unfortunately,  however,  I  subsequently 
lost  the  picture,  but  perhaps  there  will  be  a  painter 
amongst  my  readers  who  will  again  depict  everything 
just  as  I  have  described  it. 

When  we  returned  to  Bombay,  the  tide  was  low,  and 
we  could  not  wait  for  it  to  turn,  as  the  sun  was  already 
sinking.  Our  boat  was  a  long  way  frpm  the  beach,  as  the 
water  was  too  shallow  for  it  to  approach  nearer.  Close 
to  the  edge  of  the  water,  however,  stood  a  number  of 
Hindus,  who  offered  to  carry  us  through  the  shallow 
water  to  the  sloop.  The  proposal  terrified  me,  and  I 
declared  positively  that  I  could  not  and  would  not  allow 
myself  to  be  carried,  but,  before  I  could  prevent  it,  two 
sturdy  half -naked  fellows  had  me  on  their  shoulders.  I 
uttered  a  terrible  scream  and  tried  to  jump  down,  but  my 
bearers  were  already  wading  through  the  water  with  me 
seated  between  them,  partly  on  the  shoulder  of  one,  partly 
on  that  of  the  other,  swaying  from  side  to  side  like  a  slight 
plank.  It  required  great  presence  of  mind  to  save  myself 
from  falling ;  my  feet  touched  the  surf  ace  of  the  water,  and 
in  order  to  keep  them  dry  I  had  to  draw  myself  together 
like  a  cat.  This  of  course  destroyed  my  balance,  and  as 
the  straddling  shoulders  of  the  Hindus  formed  a  seat 
alike  uncomfortable  and  too  wide  for  my  small  person,  I 
was  in  the  greatest  fear  of  falling  backwards  or  forwards. 
In  my  terror  I  clutched  at  the  naked  chest  of  the  Hindus 
with  both  hands,  and  held  fast  by  their  black  flesh.  My 


166  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

companion  was  behind  me,  in  a  similarly  pleasant  position, 
on  the  shoulders  of  two  Hindus.  Our  vessel  was  a  long 
way  out,  and  I  so  loathed  the  black  flesh  of  the  Hindus 
by  which  I  held,  that  as  soon  as  ever  they  set  me  down 
on  my  own  feet  in  the  boat  I  hastily  washed  my  hands, 
at  which  Mr.  H.  laughed  most  heartily  ;  and  on  our  voy- 
age back  to  Bombay  he  painted  me  a  second  picture,  which 
was  not  however  quite  so  poetic  as  that  of  the  dark  Hindu  in 
the  red  turban  and  snow-white  costume,  standing,  water 
jug  in  hand,  beside  the  spring  in  the  shadowy  rock-cut 
Cave  of  Elephanta,  with  the  sunbeam  falling  full  upon 
him.  I,  for  my  part,  attempted  to  draw  my  companion 
on  the  shoulders  of  the  two  Hindus  ;  but,  as  I  never  had 
much  time  to  cultivate  the  art  of  drawing,  I  could  not  well 
succeed,  and  by  the  time  we  reached  Bombay,  the  three 
men,  under  my  pencil,  looked  crippled  and  ailing,  and  tit 
to  be  sent  to  a  hospital.  On  Thursday  evening  no  answer 
from  Allahabad  had  arrived,  and  I  now  no  longer  expected 
any  news,  thinking  my  second  telegram  to  the  Lady  Supe- 
rior must  have  miscarried.  At  noon  on  Friday,  however, 
as  we  were  sitting  at  table  the  consul's  servant  brought  me 
a  letter,  which  I  opened  and  read  as  follows  :  — 


Miss  WEPPNER, 
"  Have  pity  on  me,  I  beg  of  you,  and  come  at  once. 
The  poor  creature  has  arrived,  and  is  sitting  here  in  my 
office.     You  will  sec  and  marvel. 

"A.  GTJMPEKT." 

I  read  the  letter  aloud,  and,  as  I  concluded,  we  looked  at 
each  other  in  astonishment.  "A  piece  of  genuine  conventual 
artifice,"  I  exclaimed,  "  to  leave  me  to  hear  unexpectedly  of 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  167 

the  arrival  of  this  stranger,  without  answering  my  tele- 
gram, or  giving  me  any  notice ;  and  then  not  even  to 
inquire  where  I  am,  but  to  take  the  poor  creature  to  the 
German  consul !  " 

This  gentleman  had  sent  me  a  carriage  at  the  same  time 
as  the  letter,  and  I  immediately  drove  to  his  office.  Directly 
I  entered  it.  my  eyes  fell  on  —  oh,  what  a  miserable  and 
pitiable  figure !  I  was  really  afraid  to  approach  her,  and 
the  consul  pointed  to  a  chair  near  to  him  and  opposite  to 
the  unhappy  creature,  in  whose  long,  thin,  and  deadly  pale 
face,  and  vacant  wandering  looks,  I  read  but  too  clearly 
the  state  of  her  mind.  Her  unusually  large  and  bright 
blue  eyes,  the  beauty  of  which  had  been  perceptibly 
marred  by  her  mental  malady,  now  expressed  nothing  but 
hopeless,  heartrending  despair.  She  was  very  poorly  and 
carelessly  dressed,  and  her  whole  appearance  was  that  of 
a  neglected,  forsaken,  suffering  and  despairing  young 
creature. 

I  did  not  even  know  the  name  of  the  poor  stranger,  for 
in  her  letter  to  me  the  Lady  Superior  had  mentioned 
neither  it,  nor  that  of  her  father. 

When  I  spoke  to  her  she  looked  at  me  long  and  fixedly, 
and  answered  nothing. 

"What  do  you  think  of  this  unexpected  arrival?"  I 
inquired  of  Consul  Gumpert,  and  he  replied,  "  I  don't 
know  what  to  say." 

Beside  the  unfortunate  young  lady  sat  a  woman  who 
had  brought  her  from  the  convent  at  Patna  to  Bombay. 
She  was,  to  judge  from  her  appearance  and  speech,  an 
uncultivated  woman,  but  she  had  sense  enough  to  profess 
ignorance  as  to  who  the  poor  girl  or  her  father  and 


168  THE  NORTH  STAR 

relations  were.  Her  own  name  was  Mrs.  Foy,  and  she 
told  me  that  she  had  to  look  after  the  little  girls  in  the 
convent  at  Patna,  and  that  last  "Wednesday  evening,  an 
hour  before  she  started,  the  Lady  Superior  had  told  her 
she  was  to  accompany  Miss  Cosserat  to  Bombay,  and 
there  hand  her  over  to  Miss  "Weppner,  at  the  German 
consulate,  who  would  take  her  to  Europe.  Mrs.  Foy,  as  it 
appeared,  had  received  certain  instructions  from  the  Lady 
Superior  at  Patna  which  she  conscientiously  endeavoured 
to  carry  out.  She  maintained  that  she  had  never  seen 
Miss  Cosserat  before  they  started,  and  that  she  knew 
nothing  of  her  father  but  his  name.  The  Lady  Superior 
had  further  charged  her  to  tell  me  that  Mr.  Cosserat, 
the  young  lady's  father,  was  too  ill  to  bring  his  daughter 
to  me  himself,  and  the  woman  declared  to  me  again  and 
again  that  Miss  Cosserat  was  not  a  dangerous  lunatic. 
But  when,  dismayed  at  the  deplorable  condition  of  the 
miserable  girl,  I  asked  Mrs.  Foy  if  she  would  take  her 
back,  either  to  the  convent  or  to  her  father,  she  said  with 
genuine  pathos,  not  for  any  sum  of  money  —  not  at  any 
price.  She  then  handed  me  three  letters ;  one  from  the 
Lady  Superior  of  the  German  convent  at  Patna,  a 
second  from  the  Lady  Superior,  Angela  von  Hoffmann,  of 
the  German  convent  at  Allahabad,  and  a  third  from 
Mr.  James  Cosserat,  the  father  of  the  lunatic. 

Through  the  Lady  Superior,  Salesia  Reimer,  of  Patna, 
Mr.  Cosserat  sent  me  a  sum  of  money  for  travelling  ex- 
penses, which  sum  was,  however,  inadequate.  Finally  Mrs. 
Foy  gave  me  the  certificate  of  a  doctor  of  Patna,  which, 
unlike  the  first  letter  from  the  Lady  Superior,  Angela  von 
H.,  of  Allahabad,  was  enough  to  make  one's  hair  stand  on 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  169 

end.  In  this  certificate  I  read  more  than  "somewhat 
deranged  in  mind,"  for  the  doctor  described  Miss  Cosserat, 
the  daughter  of  Mr.  James  Coaserat,  of  Patna,  as  a  very 
dangerous  lunatic,  and  he  cited  several  instances  of  her 
having  not  only  attempted  her  own  life,  but  threatened 
and  endangered  that  of  others.  He  added,  moreover,  that 
since  the  derangement  of  her  intellect,  Miss  Cosserat  had 
been  very  fond  of  quarrelling,  very  slovenly,  and  very 
difficult  to  manage.  She  also  suffered  from  sleeplessness, 
and  required  constant  watching  day  and  night. 

All  this  was  very  far  from  encouraging;  but  Miss 
Cosserat's  most  dangerous  peculiarity  which,  alas,  I  did 
not  myself  discover,  until  too  late,  was  not  referred  to  in 
the  doctor's  letter  at  all.  He  neither  said  when  and  how 
Miss  Cosserat  lost  her  reason,  nor  that  the  ch'mate  of 
Europe  would  restore  her  to  health.  From  what  he  said 
in  his  letter  one  would  conclude  that  the  young  lady  had 
begun  to  show  symptoms  of  derangement  of  intellect  in 
her  father's  house,  seven  months  before,  but  this  was 
altogether  contradicted  by  the  declaration  of  Salesia 
Reimer,  the  Lady  Superior  of  the  German  convent  at 
Patna,  from  which  the  lunatic  was  brought  to  Bombay. 
The  doctor  made  no  reference  to  the  treatment  of  the 
invalid  in  the  convent  mentioned  above,  and  in  her  letter 
the  Lady  Superior  said  very  distinctly  that  she  had  had 
charge  of  her  for  three  years  in  the  convent,  and  that  she 
was  quite  harmless ;  adding  that  a  German  nun,  Miss 
Alexis,  by  name,  who  had  left  the  convent  at  Patna  and 
returned  a  year  ago  to  that  at  JSTyrnphenburg,  in  Bavaria, 
knew  Miss  Cosserat.  The  doctor's  certificate  and  the 
letters  of  the  Ladies  Superior  at  Patna  and  Allahabad 


170  THE  NORTH  STAR 

were  so  contradictory,  that  it  was  impossible  to  get  at  the 
simple  truth  amongst  them,  and  at  the  time  neither  the 
German  consul  nor  I  founji  out,  as  I  did,  later,  in  Europe, 
that  the  doctor's  letter  was  an  old  one  written  a  year 
previously. 

In  his  letter  to  me,  Miss  Cosserat's  father,  James 
Cosserat,  of  Patna,  mentioned  the  sum  of  1800  rupees  for 
travelling  expenses ;  but  Salesia  Reimer,  the  Lady  Superior 
at  Patna,  through  whose  hands  the  money  passed,  only 
mentioned  1500.  Mr.  Gumpert,  who  read  both  letters, 
noticed  the  difference  in  the  two  sums  named  and  called 
my  attention  to  it.  It  was  easy  to  see  that  the  father's 
letter  was  written  under  the  influence  of  the  Lady 
Superior  at  Patna,  for  her  advice  alone  could  have  led  him 
to  send  his  poor  daughter  to  the  convent  of  the  Angelic 
Sisters  at  Nymphenburg,  in  Bavaria,  the  mother  institu- 
tion of  that  at  Patna,  of  which  Mr.  Cosserat  evidently 
knew  nothing.  His  treatment  of  the  foreign  names 
connected  with  the  Bavarian  convent  testified  to  his 
entire  ignorance  respecting  it.  I  concluded  that  the 
father's  letter  was  dictated  by  the  Lady  Superior  at  Patna, 
and  that  the  whole  affair  relating  to  the  poor  lunatic  was 
in  her  hands  and  those  of  the  Lady  Superior  at  Allahabad. 

After  Mr.  Deimler  had  arrived  at  the  German  Consulate, 
and  we  had  all  taken  counsel  together,  Mr.  G.  advised  me 
to  go  to  the  German  Bishop,  Dr.  Meurin,  and  ask  him  if 
he  knew  of  no  suitable  shelter  for  the  poor  lunatic.  I 
told  the  consul  that  I  could  not  and  would  not  go  to  the 
bishop,  and  he  understood  why  not.  Like  a  kind-hearted 
and  feeling  man,  who  pitied  the  condition  of  the  poor 
creature,  he  went  himself  to  the  bishop.  But  when  his 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  m 

Lordship  heard  that  the  unhappy  lunatic  had  been  sent 
to  me,  his  first  thought  was  to  pour  out  a  bitter  complaint 
against  me ;  after  that,  however,  much  as  he  disliked  me 
personally,  he  did  what  he  could  to  help  the  poor  afflicted 
creature.  He  probably  knew  that  he  was  dealing  with 
some  artfully  contrived  monastic  affair,  the  heroine  of 
which  was  not,  as  we  had  imagined,  a  Catholic,  but  a  poor 
forsaken  Protestant.  Bishop  Meurin  gave  Mr.  G.  a  letter 
for  me,  which  I  was  to  give  to  the  Lady  Superior  of  the 
convent  of  St.  Joseph  at  Bandora.  His  Lordship  told  the 
consul  that  on  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  the  Lady  Superior 
would  not  hesitate  to  receive  the  lunatic  until  her  journey 
to  Europe  was  arranged. 

1  had  already  succeeded  in  winning  the  confidence  of  the 
poor  lunatic  a  little,  and  everybody  was  surprised  at  the 
affection  she  manifested  for  me.  While  I  was  sitting  near 
her  in  the  consul's  office,  she  took  my  hand  several  times, 
pressed  it  warmly  in  both  of  hers,  and  said,  looking  round 
on  the  people  about  her,  "I  like  this  lady,  she  looks  very 
kind." 

It  was  late  in  the  evening  when  we  left  the  consul's 
office,  and  as  the  convent  of  St.  Joseph  at  Bandora  is  about 
five  miles  from  Bombay,  we  did  not  get  there  until  nearly 
twelve  o'clock  at  night. 

Miss  Cosserat  slept  the  whole  way,  and  did  not  therefore 
give  us  much  trouble.  The  convent  was  as  still  as  death, 
and  the  door  was  not  opened  until  I  had  rung  several 
times.  I  gave  the  maid-servant  the  bishop's  letter,  and 
begged  her  to  let  us  come  in  with  the  invalid.  We  had, 
however,  the  greatest  trouble  to  get  the  latter  into  the 
parlour  ;  she  was  evidently  much  frightened,  and  refused 


172  THE  NORTH  STAB 

to  follow  us.  "  This  is  a  convent,"  she  said  in  a  piteous 
tone,  as  she  looked  at  the  pictures  on  the  walls.  "  I  will 
not  go  into  a  convent ;  I  will  not  stay  here  ;  "  and  running 
to  the  window  she  tried  to  open  it.  At  this  moment  the 
Lady  Superior  came  in,  and  Miss  Cosserat  was  so  terrified 
by  the  sight  of  her,  that  she  ran  into  a  corner  with  a  loud 
scream,  and  hid  her  face  against  the  wall.  The  Lady 
Superior  at  once  expressed  her  readiness  to  comply  with 
the  bishop's  wishes.  She  was,  however,  anxious  to  know 
when  the  lunatic  would  be  removed  from  the  convent,  but 
this  I  could  not  tell  her.  I  was  still  too  much  upset  with 
the  unannounced  and  unexpected  arrival  and  the  miserable 
appearance  of  my  protegee,  to  be  able  to  come  to  any 
decision.  The  well-instructed  Mrs.  Foy  was  just  as  reti- 
cent and  guarded  in  her  communications  in  the  convent  of 
St.  Joseph,  as  she  had  been  in  the  consul's  office.  Miss 
Cosserat  remained  in  the  convent,  that  is  to  say,  she  was 
persuaded  to  do  so  with  the  greatest  trouble,  and  after 
many  complaints.  The  poor  creature  begged  me,  with 
clasped  hands  and  a  most  piteous  expression  of  face, 
to  come  and  see  her  the  next  day,  and  I  promised  to  do  so. 
It  was  midnight  when  I  left  the  convent  of  Bandora 
with  Mrs.  Foy.  On  the  way  back  to  Bombay,  I  tried  to 
find  out  from  her  why  the  lunatic's  father,  or  one  of  the 
many  nuns  of  Patna,  did  not  bring  the  poor  girl  to  Bombay, 
instead  of  a  stranger.  And,  for  a  moment,  forgetting  her 
reserve  and  her  instructions,  Mrs.  Foy  said  she  did  not 
think  her  charge's  father  was  ill,  but  neither  he,  nor  any  of 
the  nuns,  had  wished  to  accompany  the  lunatic,  and  the 
Lady  Superior  alone  had  escorted  her  to  the  station  late 
in  the  evening.  She  added  that  the  invalid  had  lost  her 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  173 

mother,  that  her  father  was  an  Englishman,  and  her  grand- 
mother, now  a  very  old  woman  of  ninety-one,  was  a  half- 
caste  native ;  but  she  confessed  that  on  the  evening  of  her 
leaving  Patna,  she  had  seen  neither  the  father  nor  the 
grandmother.  Meanwhile  we  had  reached  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Deimler's  house,  where  we  parted.  Mrs.  Foy  went  to 
pass  the  night  in  the  ladies'  room  at  the  station,  and 
promised  to  see  me  again  the  next  day,  and  hand  over 
to  me  Miss  Cosserat's  trunk.  But  I  never  again  saw 
Mrs.  Foy,  and  I  believe  she  left  Bombay  during  the  night, 
for  she  had  left  Miss  Cosserat's  luggage  ticket  at  the 
German  consul's  office  without  my  knowledge. 

After  this  exciting  day  it  was  impossible  to  sleep  or 
rest.  I  felt  the  deepest  pity  for  the  poor  young  lady,  and 
her  sorrow-stricken  face  haunted  me  perpetually.  Anxious 
thoughts  and  doubts  chased  each  other  through  my  mind, 
but,  through  them  all,  my  heart  pleaded  for  the  unhappy 
forsaken  girl,  and  in  spite  of  all  the  possible  conse- 
quences which  I  pictured  to  myself,  my  heart  told  me 
again  and  again  not  to  forsake  the  poor  orphan.  True 
misery  never  found  me  unfeeling ;  and  here  was  the 
subject  of  double  misfortune ;  here  was  a  poor  suffering 
creature,  her  spirit  darkened  by  insanity ;  a  poor  feeble 
woman  with  no  mother ;  and  a  father  who,  judging  from  his 
conduct,  did  not  love  her  ;  for  a  father  who,  with  cold  in- 
difference, can  give  over  his  suffering  child  to  a  stranger, 
whom  he  does  not  even  care  to  see  or  to  know,  shows  no 
affection,  no  heart.  This  father,  I  reasoned  to  myself,  is  a 
Protestant,  yet  he  wishes  and  writes  that  his  unhappy 
daughter  should  be  taken  to  a  Catholic  convent  in  Europe ; 
he,  her  own  father,  sends  his  despairing  child,  who  was 


174  THE  NORTH  STAR 

brought  up  in  the  Protestant  religion,  to  a  fanatical  convent 
far  away  from  him.  I  asked  myself,  could  a  father,  could 
a  Protestant,  who  thus  treated  his  own  daughter,  love  her  ? 
and  my  heart  answered  no  !  But  in  any  case,  I  reasoned 
further,  the  forsaken  suffering  child  is  here ;  and  the 
unhappy  creature  whom  I  had  taken  to  the  convent  of  St. 
Joseph  but  a  few  hours  before  was  with  me  in  my  quiet 
peaceful  room  at  Pastor  Deimler's  house.  She  haunted 
my  imagination,  she  was  my  waking  dream  through  the 
long  hours  of  the  night.  I  felt  as  if  she  was  approaching 
my  bed,  and  pressing  my  hand  she  pleaded  for  my  love. 
"  I  am  forsaken,"  she  said,  with  a  hopeless,  despairing 
look  ;  "  no  one  loves  me,  my  father  wants  me  to  go  —  to 
go  to  a  strange  and  distant  land,  and  I  have  no  mother ; 
have  mercy  upon  me,  stranger ;  pity  me ;  love  me  !  " 

And  /,  fully  realising  the  sorrows  of  a  child  deprived 
of  a  father's  love,  /,  to  whom  Heaven  gave  the  best  of 
mothers,  whom  I  would  soon  be  able  to  embrace,  and  /, 
the  happy  stranger,  who  had  met  with  goodness  and 
kindness  in  every  country  of  the  earth,  could  I  forsake 
this  unfortunate  child,  this  orphan,  whose  mother  lay 
in  her  grave,  whose  father  repelled  her,  and  who  had  no 
friend  in  the  wide  wide  world  ? 

"  No  /  I  cannot,"  I  said  to  myself ;  "  I  will  show  the  same 
kindness  to  this  unhappy  child  which  others  have  shown 
to  me.  It  is  my  duty.  I  will  pity  her,  and  will  en- 
deavour to  love  her  as  my  own  sister,  for  the  poor  orphan 
is  God's  child.  I  will  place  her  under  the  protection  of 
Heaven,  and  am  not  afraid  of  the  future.  The  good  angel 
who  led  me  to  her  will  lead  us  both  further  in  security 
and  peace."  While  reasoning  thus,  the  sudden  thought 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  175 

flashed  through  my  mind  that  perhaps,  instead  of  bringing 
the  insane  Protestant  lady  into  a  Roman  Catholic  convent, 
I  could  find  for  her  a  home  in  a  lunatic  asylum,  where 
possibly  she  could  be  cured.  The  hope  of  doing  this 
encouraged  me,  and  I  fully  decided  to  take  under  my 
protection  the  poor  forsaken  one.  I  did  not  sleep  at  all 
that  night,  and  I  was  quite  worn  out  when  I  joined  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  D.  the  next  morning.  When  my  friends  became 
aware  of  the  firm  resolve  I  had  come  to  to  undertake  the 
charge  of  the  poor  creature,  and  I  had  confessed  to  them 
my  true  motive  for  that  resolve,  the  Rev.  Mr.  D.  spoke  to 
me  very  seriously,  urging  me  to  consider  well  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  task  and  the  risks  I  ran  in  undertaking  it. 
He  added,  moreover,  that  even  with  the  most  conscientious 
economy  it  would  be  impossible  to  pay  the  expenses 
with  the  paltry  sum  sent  to  me  by  the  father.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Deimler  had  come  from  Bavaria  to  Bombay 
not  very  long  before,  so  that  the  good  clergyman  could  tell 
me  exactly  what  the  journey  would  cost,  which  I  did  not 
know  before.  According  to  his  estimate  the  sum  for- 
warded to  me  would  not  even  be  enough  for  the  fares 
for  two  by  rail  and  steamer,  and  nothing  would  be  left 
for  the  indispensable  incidental  expenses.  "  And,"  added 
Mr.  D.,  "  suppose  the  lunatic  should  be  ill  in  body,  or  the 
state  of  her  mind  become  so  much  worse  that  you  could 
not  manage  her,  and  had  to  call  in  the  assistance  of  others, 
what  could  you  do  without  sufficient  money  ?  You  ought 
to  have  at  least  500  rupees  more,  and  even  then  you 
would  not  have  enough,  supposing  you  were  detained  long 
by  the  way." 

Salesia  Reimer,  the  Lady  Superior  at  Patna,  had  come 


176  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

from  the  very  place  to  which  Mr.  Cosserat  was  sending 
his  daughter  on  her  advice,  and,  as  I  believed,  at  her  wish, 
and  she  therefore  knew  well  enough  what  the  journey 
would  cost.  At  all  events,  it  seemed  to  me  that  she  was 
the  prime  mover  in  this  little  drama,  and  had  a  notion  of 
doing  a  little  economy  with  Mr.  Cosserat's  money ;  whether 
she  did  so  for  his  sake  or  that  of  the  convent,  it  was 
impossible  to  say,  for,  in  spite  of  the  inadequacy  of  the 
funds  entrusted  to  me,  she  evidently  expected  me  to  have 
something  over ;  and  the  prudent  lady,  in  the  name  of  Mr. 
Cosserat,  told  me  to  give  the  balance  to  the  Right  Reverend 
Mother  in  God,  the  Lady  Superior  of  the  convent  at  JSym- 
phenburg,  on  my  arrival  there.  She  appeared  to  have 
full  control  over  the  financial  part  of  the  business,  and  was 
very  parsimonious.  However,  she  knew  how  to  tone 
down  this  frugality  and  this  inadequacy  of  cash  with 
honeyed  promises  and  flattering  words,  and  there  was 
nothing  to  wish  for  in  her  elegantly  written  letter,  which 
ran  as  follows :  — 

"Mr   DEAR   AND   HONOURED   MlSS    WEPPNEB, 

"Pray  pardon  me,  a  stranger,  for  addressing  a 
few  lines  to  you.  Angela  v.  Hoffmann,  the  Lady  Superior 
at  Allahabad,  has  to-day  informed  me  by  telegram  that 
you  are  so  very  good  as  to  be  willing  to  take  Miss  Cosserat 
to  our  convent  at  Nymphenburg.  You  will  be  doing  an 
act  of  great  mercy,  and  Mr.  Cosserat  pays  the  expenses  of 
the  journey  with  the  greatest  pleasure.  If,  however,  you 
should  be  able  to  obtain  a  free  passage,  he  wishes  you  to 
have  something  for  your  kindness.  He  sends  1500  rupees 
for  travelling  expenses,  and  the  balance  which  remains  of 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  177 

it  he  desires  you  to  hand  over  on  your  arrival'  to  the  Right 
Reverend  Mother  in  God,  the  Lady  Superior  at  Nym- 
phenburg.  Mr.  Cosserat  also  desires  to  receive  an  account 
of  all  you  lay  out  on  the  journey. 

"  I  must  ask  you  to  excuse  the  state  of  Miss  Cosserat's 
wardrobe ;  unfortunately  there  is  no  one  to  take  any  care 
of  this  poor  creature.  Her  grandmother  is  ninety-one 
years  old,  and  incapable  of  seeing  after  anything.  Most 
earnestly  do  I  beg  of  you  to  have  patience  with  the  poor 
invalid.  God  will  richly  reward  you  for  your  goodness 
and  patience.  And  wishing  you  a  pleasant  journey, 
"  I  am,  dear  Miss  "Weppner, 

"  Yours  very  truly, 
" SALESIA  -REIMEE,  Lady  Superior" 

This  Christian  lady  herself  confessed  that  no  one  took 
any  care  of  the  poor  creature,  and  asked  me  to  excuse  her 
miserable  wardrobe.  Yet,  as  Mrs.  Foy  had  told  me,  the 
unfortunate  lunatic's  father  was  a  wealthy  opium  merchant. 
Moreover,  she  came  from  a  rich  convent,  the  Lady  Superior 
of  which  had  money  of  her  father's  in  hand ;  but  for  all 
that,  his  poor  child  was  worse  dressed  than  the  lowest 
maid-servant.  In  the  letter  quoted  above,  the  wealthy 
opium  merchant  expressed  the  generous  wish,  through  the 
Lady  Superior  at  Patna,  that  I  should  have  something 
for  my  trouble,  but  that  "  something  "  was  to  be  deducted 
from  the  money  for  my  travelling  expenses,  in  case  I 
should  obtain  a  free  passage.  This  wish  was,  however, 
followed  by  a  request  to  give  the  balance  of  the  money, 
which  was  rather  too  little  than  too  much,  to  the  Right 
Reveren  d  Lady  Superior  at  Nymphenburg.  The  letter  was 
VOL.  n.  12 


178  THE  NORTH  STAR 

truly  conventual,  and  worded  with  the  greatest  care.  The 
Lady  Superior  urged  me  to  economy.  I  was  to  supplement 
the  insufficient  sum  and  "  something  "  for  myself  by  getting 
a  free  passage,  so  that  the  greater  part  of  it  might  accrue 
to  the  wealthy  convent  of  Nymphenburg.  The  Lady 
Superior,  for  purely  egotistical  reasons,  looked  after  Mr. 
Cosserat's  interests  with  the  greatest  duplicity ;  and,  as  she 
knew  very  well  that  it  would  be  impossible  that  there 
should  remain  "something"  for  me  out  of  the  parsi- 
monious sum  entrusted  to  me,  she  enlarged  on  the  rich 
reward  which  God  would  give  me,  although  the  balance 
of  the  money  must  be  given  to  the  Right  Reverend  Lady 
Superior  at  Nympheuburg. 

But  how  could  the  clever  and  thrifty  administratrix  of 
Mr.  Cosserat's  affairs  have  supposed  that  any  captain, 
agent,  or  director,  of  a  steamship  company  was  likely  to 
give  me  a  free  passage,  which  would  involve  the  reception 
on  board  of  a  lunatic  as  well  ? 

My  friends,  who  meant  me  well,  and  looked  at  the 
matter  from  a  less  self-interested  point  of  view,  tried  to 
convince  me  that  I  was  the  tool  of  an  avaricious  father 
and  egotistical  nuns,  all  of  whom  had  their  own  private 
ends  to  serve  in  the  cleverly  calculated  consignment  to 
me  of  the  poor  lunatic.  For  if  one  of  the  nuns  of  the 
convent  from  which  Miss  Cosserat  came  had  escorted  her 
to  Europe,  her  father  would  have  had  to  pay  for  the 
voyage  there  and  back  of  two  nuns,  as  it  is  a  rule  of  the 
order  of  the  Angelic  Sisterhood  that  no  nun  should  travel 
without  a  companion,  unless  travelling  incognita  in  a 
secular  dress,  which,  as  I  learnt  later  on,  is  adopted  in 
particular  cases  by  spiritual  ladies  on  errands  outside 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  179 

their  sacred  walls,  which  errands  require  discretion  and 
prudence.  If  Mr.  Cosserat  had  engaged  a  European  lady 
or  a  native  ayah  to  take  his  daughter  from  India  to 
Bavaria,  he  would,  in  either  case,  have  had  to  pay  a  good 
fee  in  addition  to  the  travelling  expenses  to  Europe  and 
back  to  India,  for  without  a  liberal  compensation,  no  one 
would  undertake  such  an  arduous  task.  The  Lady 
Superior  at  Patna  probably  knew  plenty  of  native  ayahs, 
but  they  would  all  be  ignorant  of  European  languages, 
and  could  not  be  trusted  to  accompany  Miss  Cosserat 
from  the  heart  of  India  to  the  convent  of  JSTymphenburg 
in  Bavaria ;  so  that  I  had  appeared  at  Allahabad  in  the 
nick  of  time.  The  poor  young  lady  had  to  be  sent  away, 
and  I  was  to  serve  as  a  friend  in  need. 

For  all  this,  however,  I  had  my  own  opinion  and  feelings 
in  the  matter.  I  had  no  desire  to  serve  the  hard-hearted 
unnatural  father,  or  the  selfish  Lady  Superior  at  Patna, 
or  the  rich  convent  of  Nymphenburg.  My  one  thought 
was  how  best  to  assist  the  poor  creature,  and  all  my 
efforts  were  for  her  benefit.  Since  that  sleepless  night 
after  her  arrival  I  had  been  constantly  cherishing  the 
hope  of  bringing  her,  not  to  the  Catholic  convent  of 
Nymphenburg,  but  to  some  medical  establishment  in 
Europe,  where  the  poor  yor.ng  lady  could  be  cured  and 
restored  to  the  world  and  to  society.  Whether  my  hopes 
would  be  realised,  time  will  show ;  meanwhile  to  return  to 
my  narrative.  The  very  day  after  Miss  Cosserat's  arrival, 
the  German  consul  went  to  the  superintendent  of  the 
Peninsular  and  Oriental  Company,  and  asked  him  for  two 
passages  from  Bombay  to  Suez.  But  the  superintendent 
told  him  that  he  could  not  take  the  responsibility  of 


180  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

receiving  a  lunatic  as  a  passenger,  and  he  refused  to  give 
her  a  ticket.  This  waa  on  Saturday  morning,  and  one 
of  the  vessels  of  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental  Company 
was  leaving  Bombay  the  same  afternoon  for  Suez.  On 
Sunday  Mr.  Gtimpert  came  to  see  me  at  Mr.  Deimler  s, 
and  told  me  he  had  not  the  slightest  hope  of  getting  a 
passage  for  Miss  Cosserat.  Consul  G.  was  himself  an 
agent  of  the  Austrian  Lloyd's  Company,  whose  vessels  run 
between  Bombay  and  Trieste,  but  the  captain  of  the  boat 
about  to  leave  had  told  him  positively  that  he  could  not 
undertake  the  responsibility  of  a  mad  passenger. 

On  this  Sunday,  I  heard  a  German  sermon  and  German 
hymns  for  the  first  time  on  my  journey  round  the  world. 
This  treat  was  provided  for  the  Germans  of  Bombay 
by  the  worthy  Mr.  Deimler,  with  the  active  co-operation 
of  the  German  consul,  who  sympathised  in  all  praise- 
worthy undertakings  connected  with  his  own  country- 
people.  I  could  not  refrain  from  complimenting  the 
last-named  gentleman  on  being  the  first  German  consul 
whom  I  had  seen  in  a  church  or  heard  pray  since  I 
started  on  my  long  journey.  It  must  not,  however,  be 
supposed  that  there  is  a  German  church  or  chapel  in 
Bombay ;  so  far  as  I  know,  there  is  not  yet  a  German 
brewery  or  club,  and  a  church  is  never  thought  of 
until  after  these  buildings  have  been  erected,  and 
sometimes  not  even  then.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Deimler  per- 
formed service  in  an  English  church,  and  there  being 
no  German  hymn-books,  Mrs.  Deimler  and  I  supplied  the 
deficiency  by  making  some  dozen  copies  of  the  hymns 
selected.  The  congregation  had  the  appearance  of  one 
united  Christian  Church,  which  our  greatest  theologians 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  181 

are  iiow  endeavouring  to  form.  Amongst  the  wor- 
shippers, besides  myself,  were  two  Catholic  gentlemen, 
one  Mr.  Yon  Helle,  the  other  Count  Waldstein  (of  the 
celebrated  race  of  Wallenstein),  who  was  afterwards  guest 
of  the  Yiceroy  of  India,  and  witnessed  his  tragical  end. 

On  the  Sunday  in  question  we  three  Roman  Catholics 
thought  and  believed  that  the  God  and  Saviour  to  whom 
the  rest  of  the  congregation  were  praying  was  our  God 
and  Saviour  too  ;  and  no  doubt  our  belief  was  shared  by 
the  various  members  of  the  different  sects  who  joined  in 
prayer  with  us.  Were  all  Catholics  and  Protestants  as 
tolerant  as  those  I  saw  assembled  in  the  English  chapel 
at  Bombay  on  that  Sunday,  the  unity  of  the  Christian 
religion,  so  earnestly  striven  after  and  longed  for  by  the 
great  and  learned  Dr.  Yon  Dollinger,  the  head  of  the  Old 
Catholic  party  in  Germany,  would  already  be  achieved. 
There  is  but  one  God,  but  one  Christ,  and  He  taught  but 
one  religion  ;  why,  then,  have  we  so  many  different 
Christian  sects  ? 

On  Sunday,  Mr.  Gumpert  forwarded  a  letter  tome,  and 
asked  for  Miss  Cosserat's  "  pills."  He  said  he  could  not 
quite  understand  what  it  was  the  Lady  Superior  at 
Bandora  wanted,  and  to  avoid  mistake  he  enclosed  a 
letter  from  his  Lordship  Bishop  Meurin.  As  this  gentle- 
man had  some  share  in  the  history  of  poor  Miss  Cosserat, 
and  as  I  have  his  letter  by  me,  I  will  copy  it  here.  The 
letter  is  dated,  Fort  Chapel,  Bombay,  April  18th,  1871, 
and  is  as  follows  :  — 


DEAR  MB.  GUMPERT, 
"  The  Lady  Superior  of  the  Bandora  convent  wishes 


182  THE  NORTH  STAR 

for  '  more  powders '  for  Miss  Rachel  Cosserat.  I  suppose 
the  lady  who  took  her  to  Bandora  knows  something 
about  these  powders.  As  I  do  not  know  where  she  is,  I 
must  make  these  powders  a  State  affavr  for  the  consul  of 
His  Imperial  Majesty  of  Germany,  and  request  his  kind 
help.  When  is  this  poor  Miss  Rachel  to  leave  ?  The  poor 
nuns  write  that  they  cannot  leave  her  alone  by  day  or 
by  night.  I  expected  her  to  leave  on  Saturday  night,  but 
it  seems  you  could  not  settle  with  the  P.  and  O.  Company. 
If  there  is  yet  a  great  delay  to  be  expected,  would  you 
not  prefer  sending  her  to  Colaba  (a  lunatic  asylum  near 
Bombay)  ?  I  leave  it  to  you,  but  remark  that  the  poor  nuns 
must  not  be  taxed  too  much.  If  you  can  procure  the  powders 
immediately,  I  can  forward  them  to  the  Bandora  convent. 
"  Tours  very  sincerely, 

"R.  C.  METJRIN,  R.  C.  Bishop." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  bishop  knew  well  enough 
"  where  the  lady  was,"  for  Mr.  Gumpert  had  told  him  I 
was  the  lady  hi  question,  and  he  knew  well  that  I  was 
staying  with  the  Protestant  clergyman,  Mr.  Deimler. 
But  the  great  man  had  a  grudge  against  me.  It  was  too 
wicked,  too  dreadful  of  me  not  to  have  shown  due  respect 
to  his  Lordship  and  to  the  female  inmates  of  the  convent. 
The  bishop  could  not  forget  or  forgive  my  having  refrained 
from  kissing  his  consecrated  ring,  or  for  having  treated 
him  and  the  Lady  Superior  like  ordinary  mortals,  instead 
of  like  the  elect  of  God.  I  had  not  confessed  this 
enormous  transgression.  I  had  not  asked  the  pardon  of 
either  of  the  offended  dignitaries,  and  I  was,  moreover, 
staying  with  Protestants.  How  could  the  bishop  be 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  183 

expected  to  stoop  to  writing  direct  to  such  a  woman  at 
a  Protestant's  house  ?  The  pills  in  question  had  been  sent 
to  me  by  Salesia  Eeimer;  the  Lady  Superior  of  Patna, 
through  Mrs.  Foy,  with  directions  to  give  one  to  the 
invalid  when  she  was  very  restleaa  and  sleepless.  I  was 
surprised  that  the  recipe  for  them  had  not  been  given  to 
me,  and  I  purposely  left  only  a  few  with  the  Lady  Superior 
at  Bandora,  putting  the  glass  case  containing  the  others 
in  my  bag.  I  had  a  strange  dread  that  the  pills  might  be 
hurtful  to  the  poor  lunatic,  and  I  had  them  tested  by  an 
English  doctor,  who  said  they  were  unwholesome.  I  there- 
fore took  no  notice  of  the  Lady  Superior's  request,  and 
thus  saved  the  bishop  the  trouble  of  sending  the  pills 
to  Bandora.  I  subsequently  showed  them  to  the  doctor 
on  the  steamship  Crolconda,  and  he  confirmed  the  opinion 
of  his  colleague  in  Bombay,  and  pronounced  the  pills  to 
be  very  dangerous  for  the  invalid,  a  slow  poison,  in  short, 
which  would  weaken  the  strongest  nerves  and  ruin  the 
most  robust  constitution,  and  it  was  his  firm  belief  that 
the  pills  were  the  chief  cause  of  the  poor  girl  having 
become  such  a  skeleton.  Mrs.  Foy,  who  had  brought  the 
invalid  to  Bombay,  administered  a  dose  of  the  pills  to  her 
in  the  German  consul's  office,  and  I  noticed  the  rapid  effect 
on  the  long  drive  to  Bandora,  during  which,  as  before 
remarked,  she  slept  soundly,  her  features  unnaturally 
distorted,  and  looking  like  a  ghost.  When  she  awoke, 
she  was  completely  exhausted,  and  we  had  to  lift  her  from 
the  carriage.  Since  that  evening  I  had  had  a  horror  of 
the  case  of  pills,  and  after  the  doctor  on  board  the  Gol- 
conda  had  tested  them  a  second  time,  I  threw  the  pills, 
case  and  all,  into  the  sea. 


184  THE  NORTH  STAB 

Although  the  poor  lunatic  had  only  been  five  days  in 
the  convent  at  Bandora,  it  was  easy  to  see,  from  the  bishop's 
letter,  that  the  nuns  were  already  tired  of  her.  The 
bishop  actually  ventured  to  propose  to  the  consul  that 
she  should  be  sent  to  the  lunatic  asylum  at  Colaba.  Yet 
his  Lordship  must  have  known  that  Mr.  Gumpert  had 
certainly  neither  the  right  nor  the  power  to  act  on  such  a 
suggestion.  The  bishop  was,  however,  too  cautious  to 
make  any  allusion  to  the  father's  and  Lady  Superior's 
neglect  of  duty  and  carelessness,  nor  did  he  give  the  more 
sensible  advice  that  the  poor  creature  should  be  sent  back 
to  the  place  from  which  she  came.  No,  she  was  to  be 
forwarded  from  one  place  to  another,  to  be  hurried  from 
the  convent  at  Bandora  to  the  lunatic  asylum  at  Colaba, 
there  to  remain  only  until  a  passage  could  be  procured  for 
her.  The  ecclesiastical  gentleman  had  also  the  prudence 
not  to  meddle  at  all  with  the  conventual  affair  in  which 
the  unhappy  young  lady  was  so  unfortunately  involved ; 
he  knew  how  to  advise,  but  never  came  forward  to  do 
anything  himself. 

It  was  a  significant  fact  that  amongst  all  the  monks, 
priests,  and  nuns  in  the  convents  of  Fort  Chapel,  at 
Bombay,  and  St.  Joseph's  at  Bandora,  none  took  a  single 
step  in  her  interest.  Doubtless  they  knew  more  than  the 
German  consul  or  I  did  of  the  fate  of  the-  Protestant 
lunatic,  and  of  the  cause  of  her  sufferings.  They  all 
knew  with  what  eagerness  her  departure  was  waited 
for  at  Patna,  but,  for  all  that,  they  made  no  sign,  and 
took  no  apparent  share  in  anything,  playing  their  parts 
with  the  most  consummate  duplicity  and  diplomacy  behind 
the  scenes,  where  they  could  not  very  easily  be  observed. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  185 

As  I  had  the  bishop's  letter  in  my  possession,  I  went  to 
Bandora,  to  see  Miss  Cosserat,  and  to  tell  the  Lady  Superior 
I  could  not  give  her  the  pills  she  asked  for,  as  they  were 
bad  for  the  invalid.  She  inquired  when  I  should  start 
with  the  lunatic,  and,  on  my  saying  I  did  not  know,  she 
replied  with  diplomacy  that  Miss  C.  was  very  quiet, 
and  scarcely  required  any  watching.  "  If  that  be  true," 
I  rejoined,  "  what  the  bishop  says  in  his  letter  to  the 
consul  must  be  false,"  and  I  produced  the  letter  bearing 
his  Lordship's  seal,  and  showing  it  to  her,  added,  "  You 
can  see  for  yourself  what  he  says."  At  this,  the  Lady 
Superior  was  confused,  and  in  her  embarrassment,  she  let 
slip  the  words  that  the  history  of  Miss  Cosserat  appeared 
to  her  very  mysterious,  and  no  doubt  must  greatly  annoy 
the  bishop.  She  then  begged  me  not  to  lose  courage,  or 
to  forsake  the  unfortunate  lunatic,  for  my  pity  for  her, 
she  added,  was  an  act  of  the  greatest  mercy.  After  this 
speech  she  took  me  into  Miss  Cosserat's  room,  and  there  I 
found  the  poor  creature  lying  asleep,  half  naked,  on  a  large 
wooden  table.  The  nun  who  watched  over  her  told  me 
she  had  not  slept  all  night,  and  that  it  had  been  impos- 
sible to  persuade  her  to  leave  the  verandah  and  go  to  bed. 
Presently  the  invalid  awoke,  and  her  wild  look  and 
wandering  eyes  made  my  blood  run  cold.  She  sprang 
from  the  table,  fell  upon  my  neck,  and  cried :  "  Oh  take  me 
away  from  here ;  this  is  a  Catholic  convent,  I  hate  the  nuns ; 
take  me  away !  "  Then  ensued  a  terrible  scene,  and  I  did 
not  know  how  to  get  away.  The  poor  creature's  entreaties 
tore  my  heart,  and  when  I  got  back  to  Mr.  Deimler's 
house  in  Mazagon  Eoad,  I  was  still  weeping.  I  could 
think  of  nothing  but  the  fate  of  the  unhappy  young  lady, 


186  THE  NORTH  STAR 

and  I  was  in  a  state  of  perpetual  excitement.  At  the 
time  it  was  very  hot,  and  my  efforts  in  behalf  of  my  poor 
protegee  kept  me  out  of  doors  a  good  deal.  I  lost  my 
appetite,  and  my  kind  host  and  hostess  tried  in  vain  to 
persuade  me  to  consider  my  own  health,  and  not  to  allow 
my  compassion  to  carry  me  completely  away. 

But  my  interest  in  the  poor  invalid  and  my  pity  for  her 
increased  rather  than  diminished,  and  I  clung  yet  more 
fondly  to  the  hope  of  taking  her  to  some  medical  establish- 
ment in  Europe,  and  thus  do  the  best  for  the  young  lady 
that  could  possibly  be  done  for  her.  It  pained  me  to  the 
quick  to  think  of  sending  her  back  to  the  convent  at 
Patna ;  my  heart  pleaded  for  her  incessantly,  and  I  yielded 
to  its  voice ;  but  all  the  time  I  did  not  know  the  most 
dreadful  feature  of  her  condition. 

On  Thursday  morning  I  went  to  call  on  Mr.  Noelke,  a 
merchant  from  Hamburg,  and  agent  of  the  Italian  line  of 
steamers  running  between  Bombay  and  Trieste.  He  had 
already  heard  of  me  from  his  German  friends,  and  received 
me  with  the  greatest  politeness.  I  related  to  him  the 
distressing  circumstances  under  which  the  poor  lady  was 
sent  to  me,  telling  him  how  sincerely  I  pitied  her,  and 
how  firmly  resolved  I  was  to  protect  her.  I  then  earnestly 
entreated  Mr.  Noelke  to  give  me  a  cabin  for  the  invalid 
and  myself  on  the  steamer  which  would  start  for  Trieste 
the  next  Saturday,  adding,  that  the  passage-money  was  all 
ready  at  Mr.  Gumpert's  office.  Mr.  Noelke's  reply  was 
well  meant,  and  merits  my  best  gratitude,  but  it  was  not 
what  I  hoped  it  would  be. 

"  Miss  Weppner,"  he  said,  "  no  matter  what  sum  you 
offer,  or  may  offer,  I  cannot,  I  dare  not,  give  a  lunatic  a 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  187 

passage.  Give  up,  I  beg  of  you,  the  dangerous  task  you 
have  undertaken,  and  if  pecuniary  motives  have  influenced 
you  in  making  this  great  sacrifice,  you  can  easily  be 
assisted.  I  am  prepared  to  do  anything  for  you  personally 
which  is  in  my  power.  I  will  negotiate  with  the  company, 
and  you  shall  go  to  Trieste  free  of  expense.  What  you 
propose  doing,"  he  added,  "would  be  too  much  for  a 
strong  man  to  risk,  and  you  are  but  a  weak  woman."  I 
listened  to  all  the  kind-hearted  man  said ;  I  strove  to 
crush  down  my  pity  for  the  forsaken  stranger,  and  for  a 
moment  I  wavered.  But  once  again  my  heart  prevailed 
against  my  own  interests,  and,  whilst  thanking  Mr.  Noelke 
for  his  sympathy  and  kindness  to  me,  I  told  him  that  the 
young  lady's  unhappy  fate  had  affected  me  too  deeply  for 
it  to  be  possible  to  forsake  her  for  any  selfish  reason. 
"  I  honour  you  for  it,"  he  replied,  "  and  if  you  change 
your  mind,  the  offer  I  made  to  you  is  still  at  your 
service." 

I  returned  home  and  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Director  of 
the  Peninsular  and  Oriental  Company,  who  had  already 
refused  to  give  the  German  consul  a  passage  for  the 
lunatic,  and  begged  him  to  grant  me  an  interview.  But 
as  I  had  little  hope  of  securing  a  passage,  in  spite  of  all  my 
efforts,  I  sent  a  telegram  to  Mr.  Cosserat,  at  Patna,  in  the 
evening,  to  prepare  him  for  the  possible  return  of  his 
daughter.  This  telegram,  as  I  expected,  conveyed  by  no 
means  welcome  tidings ;  at  least,  so  I  judged,  from  the  fact 
that  I  received  no  reply  from  the  poor  girl's  father.  On 
Wednesday  morning  I  drove  to  the  chief  ofiice  of  the  P. 
and  O.  Company,  and  when  the  director  received  my 
card,  he  came  and  invited  me  into  his  private  room.  I 


188  THE  NORTH  STAR 

then  told  him  in  a  few  words  how  I  was  circumstanced  with 
regard  to  the  poor  stranger,  and  showed  him  the  letters  and 
telegrams  from  her  father.  He  saw  at  once  that  there  were 
no  self-interested  motives,  on  my  side  at  least,  and  said, 
"  This  is  a  strange  and  mysterious  case,  and  the  sum  sent 
by  the  father  is  far  too  small  to  cover  the  expenses  of  the 
voyage  to  Europe."  I  here  remarked  that  the  money  for 
the  passage  to  Suez  was  waiting  at  the  consul's  office,  and 
that  I  had  no  doubt  the  poor  lady's  father  would  forward 
the  rest  of  the  money  required  as  soon  as  he  knew  that 
I  had  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  passage  for  his  daughter. 

The  director,  as  he  told  me  himself,  was  a  Catholic  and 
a  friend  of  the  bishop,  whom  he  had  seen  lately,  he  said  ; 
but  the  latter  had  told  him  nothing  about  the  poor  young 
lady,  and  he  was  very  much  surprised  to  hear  that  she 
was  a  Protestant,  and  had  come  from  a  Catholic  convent. 
I  had,  however,  all  but  won  over  the  director,  although  his 
now  awakened  interest,  as  I  could  guess  from  his  manners 
and  speech,  was  rather  more  for  the  bishop,  the  nuns, 
and  the  convent,  than  for  my  poor  protegee.  All 
this  I  knew  and  felt,  but  I  was  also  sure  he  was  disposed 
to  favour  me,  for  he  commended  my  compassion  and  dis- 
interested kindness,  repeating,  "I  am  a  friend  of  the 
bishop,  and  I  will  see  what  can  be  done,"  so  that  when 
I  left  him  I  was  almost  sure  that  he  would  grant  the 
passage. 

On  Saturday  of  the  same  week  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
hearing  the  beautiful  opera  of  Sakuntala,  which  was 
acted  in  the  Sanskrit  language  in  a  Hindu  theatre,  by 
the  students  of  Elphinstone  College.  Mr.  Gumpert  was 
anxious  that  I  should  see  a  native  opera,  and  the  president 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  189 

of  the  college  had  sent  him  tickets  for  two  reserved  seats. 
The  conductor  of  the  native  orchestra  was  Mr.  Gumpatroa 
Zaoba,  and  the  singing  sounded  very  powerful,  distinct, 
and  clear  in  the  Sanskrit  language.  I  had  heard  that 
Sanskrit  much  resembles  German  in  pronunciation  and 
force  of  expression,  and  I  now  found  that  I  had  been 
rightly  informed.  It  is  true  I  did  not  understand  a  word, 
but  the  enunciation  of  the  singers  was  extremely 
pure  and  resonant,  and  I  enjoyed  Sakuntala  in  the 
Sanskrit  opera  more  than  Mignon  in  the  Italian.  In 
India,  as  in  China,  men  play  the  parts  of  women. 
Sakuntala,  the  beloved  of  King  Dushyanta,  was  a 
handsome  Hindu  youth  of  about  twenty  years  old,  and  it 
seemed  rather  unnatural  to  me  that  a  male  goddess 
should  recline  on  a  bed  of  roses,  as  I  have  witnessed  in  the 
third  act.  A  Baboo,  who  spoke  English  well,  sat  at  my 
left  hand,  and  he  translated  the  most  important  parts  of 
the  opera  for  us,  and  pointed  out  the  different  characters 
on  the  stage. 

When  I  returned  home  from  the  opera,  Mr.  Deimler 
gave  me  a  letter  from  the  director  of  the  Peninsular  and 
Oriental  Company,  which  ran  as  follows  :  — 

"  Bombay,  April  24th,  1871. 

"  To  Miss  MARGARETHA  WEPPNER,  care  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
"  DEIMLER,  Gunpowder  Road,  Mazagon,  Bombay. 

"  With  reference  to  your  application  for  a  passage  for 
an  invalid  lady  by  the  mail  steamer  to  leave  for  Suez  on 
Saturday  next,  I  have  to  inform  you  that  the  same  can  be 
granted  on  consideration  of  its  being  engaged  that  the  in- 


190  THE  NORTH  STAR 

valid  lady  referred  to  by  you  be  not  allowed  to  leave  her 
cabin  during  the  voyage. 

"  I  am,  Madam,  Yours  faithfully, 

"  GEORGE  F.  HENRY, 
"  Superintendent  of  the  Peninsular 
and  Oriental  Steam  Navigation  Company" 

On  Thursday  morning  I  drove  to  the  consulate,  and 
Mr.  Gumpert  telegraphed  at  once  to  Mr.  Cosserat,  at 
Patna,  telling  him  that  a  passage  had  been  granted  to  his 
daughter,  and  explaining  to  him  that  the  money  sent  for 
travelling  expenses  would  not  be  sufficient,  but  that 
500  rupees  more  would  be  required.  He  requested  Mr. 
Cosserat  to  send  that  sum,  and  also  to  write  me  a  letter, 
legally  authorising  me  to  be  his  daughter's  guardian  on  the 
journey  to  Europe,  &c.  Mr.  Gumpert  warned  me  that  I 
might  have  difficulties,  and  that,  if  so,  a  letter  of  authority 
from  the  lunatic's  father  would  be  most  useful. 

In  the  afternoon  Count  Waldstein  came  and  escorted 
me  to  the  native  bazaar,  where  we  inspected  a  very  rich 
collection  of  the  far-famed  Indian  sandal-wood,  and  ivory 
ware.  Many  of  the  articles  exhibited  are  inlaid  with  the 
most  artistic  designs  in  mosaic,  ebony,  and  ivory,  and  are 
of  exquisite  finish,  showing  both  the  admirable  patience 
and  the  rare  talent  of  the  natives.  I  bought  a  lovely 
little  basket  of  sandal-wood,  ebony,  and  ivory,  inlaid 
with  the  finest  mosaics,  and  a  very  beautifully  carved 
sandal-wood  glove-box.  I  also  added  a  very  interest- 
ing collection  of  terra-cotta  figures  to  my  curiosities, 
which  faithfully  represented  the  various  castes  of  India, 
including  a  pious  Brahmin,  with  his  earthen  water 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  191 

vessel,  starving  himself  to  death  with  fasting;  a  snake 
charmer,  with  various  Hindus,  Parsees,  Indian  princes, 
Baboos,  artisans  of  all  kinds,  male  and  female  servants, 
&c.  For  a  short  time  after  my  return  home  this  series 
formed  a  very  beautiful  group  in  my  museum  at  Frankfort. 

The  numerous  races  in  Bombay  are  a  peculiar  and 
interesting  sight.  Nowhere,  not  even  in  Shanghai, 
Hong-Kong,  Singapore,  or  in  any  of  the  seaports  and 
commercial  towns  of  the  East,  are  the  differences  between 
the  races  so  striking  as  in  Bombay.  In  Calcutta,  the  port 
opposite  to  Bombay,  on  the  other  side  of  India,  there  are 
but  two  distinct  races,  the  Hindus  and  the  Europeans ; 
whereas,  in  the  bazaar  at  Bombay,  there  are,  besides 
Hindus,  many  half-caste  Portuguese  from  Goa,  as  well 
as  Persians,  Arabians,  Syrians,  Turks,  and  Greeks  from 
the  Levant.  Amongst  the  southern  races  I  recognised 
Malays,  Chinese,  Javanese,  and  Siamese;  and  I  also  met 
with  several  typical  members  of  the  races  with  which  I 
had  become  familiar  in  Northern  India,  such  as  natives  of 
Cashmere  and  Afghanistan,  Sikhs,  <fec.  Amongst  the 
races  in  Bombay  the  natives  of  Madagascar  are  the 
swarthiest.  The  Hindus  and  Parsees,  although  they  both 
belong  to  the  Caucasian  family,  differ  greatly  alike  in 
physiognomy,  complexion,  customs,  and  style  of  dress. 
The  Hindus  are  the  darker  of  the  two. 

One  leading  characteristic  of  the  different  races  and 
sects  of  Asia,  is  that  they  all  have  their  own  peculiar 
costumes;  whereas  in  Europe  and  America  all  classes 
of  English,  French,  Italians,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Scan- 
dinavians, and  the  civilised  races  of  North  and  South 
America  follow,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  same  fashions,  all 


192  THE  NORTH  STAR 

males  being  dressed  alike,  and  all  females  in  costumes 
resembling  each  other  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  so  that 
a  certain  uniformity  of  style  is  insured.  The  Oriental 
races  each  adopt  a  distinctive  costume,  and  present  so 
varied  an  appearance,  that  even  a  stranger,  with  some 
slight  attention  to  details  of  dress,  can  distinguish  one 
race  from  another  without  any  of  that  study  of  physiog- 
nomy and  of  manner  necessary  to  the  recognition  of 
Germans,  French,  English,  &c.  To  the  Israelites  alone 
did  God  give  the  distinction  of  being  easily  recognised 
by  the  type  of  their  features  in  every  nation  under 
heaven. 

But  any  stranger  travelling  in  the  East,  and  provided 
with  a  faithful  description  of  the  distinctive  costumes  as 
worn  by  the  various  races,  might,  without  any  knowledge 
of  their  features,  easily  distinguish  the  natives  of  eveiy 
different  country. 

The  Japanese  have  to  follow  a  legal  etiquette  in 
their  mode  of  dressing  the  hair ;  the  Chinese  wear  a 
pig-tail,  the  Malays  a  hood,  and  the  Javanese  and 
Sundanese  are  "  shock-headed  Peters  "  (Struwel-Pieters) ; 
the  Hindu  wears  a  turban,  the  Parsee  a  mourning  hat, 
and  so  on. 

The  chief  differences  between  the  Hindus  and  Parsees 
are  that  the  latter  have  no  distinctions  of  caste,  and  eat 
animal  food  of  all  kinds.  Unfortunately  the  women  of 
both  sects  occupy,  as  I  was  told,  a  very  degraded  position, 
and  are  certainly  not  yet  looked  upon  as  goddesses  in 
society.  Yet  if  we  look  into  the  history  of  India,  we 
find  this  contradicted  in  many  instances.  The  Parsees  are 
the  first  merchants  in  India,  and  what  the  enterprising  and 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  193 

energetic  Jews  are  in  the  trade  of  Europe  and  America,  that 
are  the  fire-worshippers  in  the  East.  The  Parsee  temples 
in  Bombay  are  very  simple,  the  only  consecrated  object 
being  the  fire  which  is  always  kept  burning  on  the  altar, 
and  is  typical  of  the  sun,  the  Parsees'  god.  I  must  here 
remark,  however,  that  I  once  met  a  Parsee  who  told  me 
that  his  god  was  the  Supreme  Being,  and  that  he  did  not 
pray  to  the  sun  itself,  but  worshipped  his  Creator  and 
honoured  his  God  through  its  medium. 

When  I  returned  from  the  bazaar  I  found  a  telegram 
awaiting  me  from  Mr.  Cosserat,  telling  me  that  the  bank 
was  already  closed  at  Patna,  but  that  he  would  send  me 
the  500  rupees,  as  requested  by  the  consul,  the  next 
day.  It  was  significant  that  the  gentleman  in  question 
chose  to  reply  immediately  this  time,  and  the  news  of  the 
approaching  departure  of  his  poor  daughter  was  evidently 
welcome  intelligence.  He  appeared,  however,  to  be  in  a 
state  of  great  excitement,  for  the  next  day  he  sent  me  a 
second  and  a  third  telegram. 

Now,  as  Mr.  Cosserat  had  deigned  no  reply  to  any  of 
my  unpleasing  communications,  I  thought  it  only  right 
to  send  him  an  explicit  letter,  in  which  I  upbraided  him 
for  his  cold,  heartless,  and  mysterious  conduct ;  and  I  also 
made  some  severe  remarks  on  the  uncandid,  egotistical, 
and  inexplicable  share  taken  by  the  Lady  Superior,  Salesia 
Reimer,  in  his  private  affairs. 

The  lunatic's  father  now  seemed  to  understand  that,  in 
spite  of  my  being  so  many  hundred  miles  away,  I  had 
some  slight  comprehension  of  his  mysterious  behaviour, 
and  of  his  intimate  relations  with  the  spiritual  mother 
of  his  forsaken  child,  as  he  now,  for  the  first  time,  sent  me 
VOL.  n.  13 


194  THE  NORTH  STAR 

a  feeling  and  grateful  telegram.  Whether  he  was  sincere 
in  what  he  said  I  do  not  know,  for  the  first  humane  answer 
vouchsafed  to  me  by  this  extraordinary  father  came  after 
he  had  heard  that  his  child  was  about  to  leave  Bombay 
for  Europe,  and  would  not  return  to  Patna. 
The  answer  referred  to  was  as  follows :  — 

"  Miss  Margaretha  Weppner,  care  of  the  German  con- 
sul, Bombay.  —  Telegraphed  very  hurriedly  last  night  to 
save  the  post.  Have  to-day  written  you  a  registered  let- 
ter, 'Care  of  the  German  consul,'  requesting  you  most 
earnestly  to  take  charge  of  my  daughter  to  convent  at 
Nymphenburg,  Bavaria,  and  thanking  you  warmly  for 
your  kindness,  giving  you  all  the  authority  to  act  for  her 
as  a  parent  over  a  child.  Please  send  reply. 

"  JAMES  COSSERAT." 

The  man  was  evidently  much  excited  ;  for  two  hours 
later  I  received  a  second  telegram,  which,  except  for  the 
alteration  of  a  few  words,  was  exactly  the  same  as  the  last. 
The  next  telegram  was  a  bank-order  for  500  rupees,  which 
Mr.  Gumpert  cashed,  and  took  into  his  keeping,  with  the 
sum  previously  sent,  until  the  day  of  our  leaving.  On 
that  day,  Friday  morning,  I  received  per  telegram  the 
registered  letter  of  authority  mentioned  by  Mr.  Cosserat, 
which  ran  as  follows :  — 

"  MY  DEAR  MADAM, 

"  I  beg  to  authorize  you  to  take  my  daughter,  Miss 
Rachel  Susanne  Cosserat,  a  lunatic,  to  the  convent  at 
Nymphenburg  (Bavaria).  I  beg  to  give  you  all  due 
authority  for  that  purpose,  viz.,  that  of  a  parent  over  a 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  195 

child,  to  take  and   control  her  in   every  needful  way. 
Please  let  me  hear  of  her  having  sailed,  by  telegraph. 
"  I  am,  my  dear  Madam,  Tours  truly, 

"  JAMES  COSSEBAT, 
"  Father  of  the  above-named 
"  Miss  RACHEL  SUSANNE  COSSEBAT. 

"  To  Miss  WEPPNER,  care  of  the 

"  German  consul,  Bombay" 

Mr.  Cosserat  appears  to  have  been  dissatisfied  with 
this  letter,  and  may,  perhaps,  have  felt  that  my  behaviour 
to  his  daughter  was  free  from  all  personal  interest ;  for, 
after  that,  he  wrote  me  a  second  registered  letter,  which 
I  received  on  Friday  afternoon,  and  in  which  he,  for  the 
first  time,  expressed  any  fatherly  feelings  for  his  poor 
daughter;  but  whether  those  feelings  were  sincere  I 
cannot  say.  He  was  evidently  in  a  very  uncomfortable 
state  of  mind,  and  having  lacked  the  moral  courage  to  do 
what  was  right  at  first,  he  was  now  striving  to  remedy 
and  amend  his  own  actions.  I  append  a  copy  of  the 
second  registered  letter :  — 

"Mr  DEAR  MADAM, 

"  On  receipt  of  your  telegram,  I  wrote  very  hurriedly 
the  first  registered  letter ;  but  now  I  beg  to  answer  more 
fully,  and  to  thank  you  most  kindly  for  the  trouble  and 
consideration  you  are  good  enough  to  exercise  in  my 
daughter's  behalf.  I  beg  you  to  be  good  enough  to  take 
my  daughter  to  the  convent  at  Nymphenburg,  in  Bavaria, 
and  I  do  so  most  earnestly,  as  the  only  hope  of  a  return 
for  her  to  sound  reason  by  a  change  of  climate  and  the  kind- 


196  THE  NORTH  STAR 

ness  she  will  receive  there  hy  the  nuns,  and  as  an  act  of 
the  greatest  kindness  and  charity  on  your  part.  I  beg  to 
give  you  all  the  authority  of  a  parent  over  my  poor  child, 
to  whom  you  are  so  good,  and  to  entreat  your  kind  con- 
sideration for  her  unfortunate  state.  If  you  will  add  to 
your  noble  kindness  by  informing  me  of  her  having  left 
Bombay,  and  also  of  her  safe  arrival  at  the  convent  of 
Nymphenburg,  I  shall  consider  it  an  additional  favour. 
"  Believe  me,  my  dear  Madam, 

"  Tours  sincerely, 

"  JAMES  COSSEEAT. 
"  To  Miss  WEPPNEK,  care  of  the 

"  German  consul,  Bombay" 

"  This  letter,"  I  said  to  my  hostess,  "  is  dictated,  if  not 
by  the  heart,  at  least  by  the  conscience,  of  my  corre- 
spondent. "  But  how  strange  it  is,"  I  added,  "  that  this 
Protestant  father  should  find  the  only  hope  of  the  recovery 
of  his  lunatic  daughter  in  the  far-distant  Catholic  convent 
at  Nymphenburg  !  If  he  is  a  sensible  Protestant,  in  full 
possession  of  his  faculties,  he  does  not  believe  what  he 
writes  to  me.  It  is  evident  that  the  Lady  Superior  Salesia 
is  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  affair;  she  is  the  man's 
regent,  and  directs  everything  he  does."  I  had  guessed 
rightly,  for  I  had  scarcely  read  the  second  letter  when  a 
servant  of  the  German  consul  brought  me  a  telegram,  the 
contents  of  which  offended  me  greatly  and  made  me  very 
angry.  This  telegram,  although  nominally  from  the 
lunatic's  father,  was  dictated  by  Salesia  Reimer,  and  it 
was  easy  to  see  that  the  most  private  affairs  of  this 
extraordinary  Protestant  gentleman  were  known  to  the 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  197 

wise  and  pious,  or,  we  should  rather  say,  the  egotistical 
Lady  Superior. 

This  truly  monastic  Catholic  lady,  this  very  economical, 
and,  as  seemed  to  me,  unfeeling  woman,  who  had  sent  the 
poor  }7oung  creature  from  her  wealthy  convent  in  rags 
and  tatters,  who  wished,  for  her  father's  sake,  that  she 
should  travel  free  of  expense,  and  that  my  trouble,  my 
kindness,  and  my  patience  should  be  rewarded  by  Heaven, 
did  not  forget  to  look  for  a  material  benefit,  and  an  earthly 
payment  for  the  advantage  of  the  convent.  And,  in  her 
piety  and  monastic  wisdom,  she  did  all  that  words  could  do 
to  get  as  much  as  possible  out  of  the  affair  for  the  convent, 
as  betrayed  by  the  last  telegram.  She  had,  it  seems  to  me, 
represented  to  the  father  that  it  was  not  certain  that  I 
should  get  safely  to  the  convent  at  Nymphenburg  with  the 
invalid  and  with  the  money.  She  inspired  him  with  dis- 
trust of  me,  so  that  not  a  single  rupee  might  come  into  my 
hands  beyond  the  rigidly  estimated  sum  for  travelling  ex- 
penses. This  clever  woman,  who  had  the  lunatic's  father 
completely  in  her  power,  had  calculated  on  the  advantage 
of  the  order  of  the  Angelic  Sisterhood  in  every  contin- 
gency, even  in  the  event  of  the  possible  death  of  the  poor 
young  lady,  and  she  had  hit  upon  a  shrewd  expedient  for 
guarding  against  what  she  distrusted. 

When  Mr.  Cosserat  was  assured  that  his  daughter 
would  leave  Bombay,  he  laid  aside  his  strange  silent  mask. 
He  had  recovered,  as  I  could  easily  guess,  from  the  emotion 
evinced  in  his  last  letter,  and  now  spoke  out  about  his 
desire  of  economy  on  his  daughter's  journey.  The  German 
consul  had  hardly  received  the  500  rupees,  when  I 
was  astgnished  by  the  receipt  of  a  telegram,  an  indirect 


198  THE  NORTH  STAR 

missive  from  the  Lady  Superior,  Salesia  Reiiner,  in  which 
Mr.  Cosserat  reminded  me  in  offensive  terms  of  suspicion 
of  the  two  separate  sums  of  rupees  I  had  received  from 
him.  He  requested  me  to  give  an  account  of  them  to  the 
Lady  Superior  at  Nymphenburg,  and  finally,  for  his  own 
satisfaction,  and  as  a  safeguard  against  my  want  of  honour, 
he  strove  to  arouse  my  self-interest  by  telling  me  that  he 
had  handed  over  a  sum  of  money  to  the  Lady  Superior, 
Salesia  Reiiner,  at  Patna.  This  lady,  as  I  was  informed 
by  his  message,  had  already  forwarded  the  money  to  the 
Lady  Superior  at  Nymphenburg  by  the  last  mail,  as  pre- 
payment for  the  board  and  care  of  his  daughter  after  her 
arrival,  and  that  in  case  1  should  deliver  her  safely  into 
the  hands  of  the  Right  Reverend  Lady  Superior  at  Nym- 
phenburg,  that  lady  would  give  me  a  small  reward. 

I  showed  this  mean  suspicious  telegram  to  Mr.  Deimler, 
and,  with  his  approbation,  I  at  once  sent  Mr.  Cosserat  a 
clear  and  outspoken  reply  by  telegram,  which,  although 
as  shortly  worded  as  possible,  was  too  long  to  transcribe 
verbatim,  but  the  contents  of  which  were  briefly  as 
follows :  — 

"  MB.  JAMES  COSSEKAT,  JBlankipore,  Patna. 
"  SIK, 

"  You  are,  as  I  understand,  the  father  of  the  unfortu- 
nate young  lady  whom  I  have  decided  to  take  with  me  to 
Europe,  and  whom  it  is  my  firm  resolve  to  watch  over 
with  all  the  kindness  in  my  power.  I  have  received  from 
you  the  money  for  travelling,  the  whole  of  which,  until 
the  moment  of  writing,  is  in  the  care  of  the  German 
consul.  In  the  event  of  my  accepting  this  money. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  199 

as  the  means  of  travelling  with  your  daughter  to  Nym- 
phenburg,  I  cannot  undertake  to  render  an  account  of  the 
sum  received  to  any  other  person  than  yourself,  and  1  wish 
to  be  exempt  from  all  obligation  to  a  second  or  a  third 
person.  My  transaction,  if  such  a  disinterested  arrange- 
ment can  be  called  a  transaction,  is  with  the  father  of 
my  protegee,  who  provides  the  money  for  the  journey,  and 
not  with  the  Lady  Superior  at  Nymphenburg.  I  know 
the  self-seeking  spirit  of  monastic  women,  and  shun  having 
any  money  dealings  with  them.  Once  more  I  declare  to 
you  positively  that  I  will  render  no  account  of  your  money 
and  of  the  expenses  on  my  journey  to  the  Lady  Superior 
at  Nymphenburg,  nor  will  I  receive  from  her  the  small 
reward  you  promise  me  on  the  safe  resignation  of  your 
daughter  into  her  hands.  If  money  and  self-interest  were 
the  motives  of  my  conduct  to  your  forsaken  child,  I  should 
demand  a  certain  remuneration  for  my  trouble  before  I 
leave  this  place,  and  your  empty  uncertain  promise  of  a 
small  probable  or  improbable  reward  would  not  suffice  me. 
I  am  not  your  servant,  and  if  I  were,  even  a  servant  would 
find  the  care  of  your  daughter,  under  such  conditions, 
arduous  enough.  Your  offer  of  a  free  passage  has  no 
weight  with  me,  for  I  could  get  one  without  giving  up  my 
freedom.  I  take  charge  of  your  child  out  of  the  purest 
compassion,  which  you  seemed  to  recognise  in  your 
telegram  of  yesterday,  and  not  for  the  sake  of  my  own 
personal  interests.  You  know  that  this  it  true ;  and  you 
know  also  that  my  disinterestedness  and  this  opportunity 
of  sending  you  daughter  away  is  to  your  advantage.  But 
under  no  circumstances,  as  I  wish  you  to  understand,  will 
I  be  a  dupe  of  suspicious  selfish  nuns.  I  must,  in  any 


200  THE  NORTH  STAR 

and  every  case,  retain  my  independence.  If  you  do  not 
agree  to  the  above  stipulations,  let  me  know  by  telegram 
before  three  o'clock  to-morrow  afternoon,  Friday,  for  at 
three  o'clock  to-morrow  the  cabin  must  be  paid  for  which 
is  engaged  for  me  and  your  daughter  on  the  steamer 
Golconda,  leaving  Bombay  for  Suez  on  Saturday.  I  can 
take  no  notice  of  any  intelligence  forwarded  after  that 
time. 

"MARGAKETHA  WEPPNEB." 

I  was  now  uncertain  what  would  ensue,  and  this  un- 
certainty made  me  dissatisfied  with  myself,  for  I  felt  that 
it  would  be  a  sin  to  forsake  the  poor  creature  now.  But 
my  compassion  was  once  more  put  to  the  test,  and  counter- 
balanced my  wavering  will.  On  Friday  morning  I  read 
an  account,  in  a  Bombay  paper,  of  a  terrible  tragedy. 
A  young  madman,  an  English  officer,  who  had  been  taken 
on  board  ship  to  a  neighbouring  island,  under  the  care  of 
two  friends,  had  murdered  one  of  them  with  a  knife  in  a 
most  horrible  manner.  Once  again  was  all  my  dread 
aroused  of  the  dangers  to  be  met  on  my  journey;  but 
once  again  before  my  imagination  rose  the  image  of 
the  miserable  pleading  figure  in  the  convent  at  Bandora, 
whom  nobody  pitied,  nobody  loved.  Once  more  I  indulged 
myself  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  take  her  to  some 
place  where  she  could  be  restored  to  health.  I  crushed 
down  all  the  dreadful  pictures  of  the  possible  perils  before 
me,  and  I  seemed  to  hear  the  voice  of  my  guardian  angel 
saying,  "I  will  not  forsake  thee;  do  not  thou  forsake 
her." 

At  three  o'clock  on  Friday  afternoon  no  telegram  had 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  201 

arrived  from  Mr.  Cosserat,  although  there  had  been  time 
to  send  at  least  a  dozen.  He  had,  of  course,  taken  coun- 
sel in  Patna  with  the  Lady  Superior,  Salesia,  and  Ins  not 
replying  at  once  was  premeditated,  and  a  matter  of  shrewd 
calculation. 

At  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  Secretary  of  the 
Peninsular  and  Oriental  Company  sent  to  Mr.  Gumpert 
to  inquire  if  I  did  or  did  not  wish  to  take  the  cabin  on 
board  the  Cfolconda,  which  would  start  the  next  day.  At 
the  same  moment  I  arrived  at  the  consul's  office,  and  as 
he  had  received  no  telegram,  he  handed  over  1000  rupees 
to  me,  and  with  it  I  paid  for  a  cabin  for  the  lunatic  and 
myself  from  Bombay  to  Suez,  obtaining  a  receipt  for  the 
money.  At  the  same  time  I  sent  a  letter  to  my  fellow- 
countryman,  Mr.  Noelke,  thanking  him  for  the  free  pas- 
sage he  had  offered  me,  and  telling  him  that  I  should  start 
the  next  day  with  my  protegee.  On  Friday  night,  at  one 
o'clock,  when  I  was  sound  asleep,  the  consul's  servant 
came  with  a  telegram  from  Mr.  Cosserat,  which  one  of 
the  women  servants  brought  to  my  bed.  I  read  the  tele- 
gram, and  tried  to  master  my  indignation,  and  to  go 
to  sleep  again.  But  it  was  of  no  use.  I  was  too  much 
excited  ;  the  cunning  of  the  unknown  man  and  woman  in 
Blankipore,  Patna,  who  now  for  fully  three  weeks  had 
worried  me  continually,  mortified  me  too  deeply.  I  sat 
down,  and  once  more  read  all  the  letters  and  the  fifteen 
telegrams  which  I  had  received  from  this  unknown  man, 
and  having  done  so  I  had  still  no  notion  whatever  as  to  the 
sad  lot  of  the  poor  lunatic.  I  did  not  know  with  whom  I 
had  to  deal ;  but  whoever  it  was  took  good  care  not  to 
throw  the  faintest  light  on  the  origin  of  the  unfortunate 


202  THE  NORTH  STAR 

girl's  sufferings  and  her  unhappy  history.  I  was  working  in 
the  dark,  and  the  only  tangible  thing  in  this  mysterious 
and  obscure  affair,  the  one  unmistakable  fact,  was  my  poor 
proteg'ee,  the  miserable  figure  in  the  convent  at  Bandora. 

At  breakfast  I  showed  Mr.  Deimler  the  telegram  I  had 
received  in  the  night.  "  Premeditated  again,"  exclaimed 
the  worthy  man  ;  "for  if  not, why  did  he  not  telegraph 
before  three  o'clock  on  Friday,  as  you  requested  him  to  do, 
instead  of  in  the  dead  of  the  night,  when  it  is  too  late  to 
make  any  change  ?  I  advise  you  to  take  no  notice  of  it. 
You  have  had  too  much  trouble  and  worry  already,  and  it 
is  high  time  that  you  should  compose  yourself  to  begin 
the  difficult  task  you  have  set  yourself  with  calmness  and 
self-possession."  The  telegram  sent  by  Mr.  Coseerat, 
late  the  night  before,  was  very  abrupt,  very  mean  and 
very  shrewd.  Feeling  sure,  after  the  receipt  of  my  last 
message,  that  I  should  pay  1000  rupees  for  the  cabin 
engaged,  at  three  o'clock  on  Friday,  unless  I  heard  from 
him  before,  he  waited  until  many  hours  later,  and  then 
telegraphed  to  me  requiring  an  impossibility.  The  un- 
known man  wanted  to  know  whether  I  would  take  his 
daughter  to  Europe  or  not,  as,  if  not,  I  was  to  give  the 
whole  sum  which  I  had  received  from  him  to  the  Catholic 
Bishop  of  Bombay,  or  to  the  Lady  Superior  at  Bandora. 
This  lady,  he  said  in  his  telegram,  had  been  requested  by 
Salesia  Reimer,  the  Lady  Superior  at  Patna,  to  take  care 
of  the  invalid  until  some  one  could  be  found  to  escort  her 
to  Europe.  For  all  that,  however,  he  knew  well  enough 
how  matters  would  stand  when  1  got  this  telegram,  for 
at  the  end  of  it  he  expressed  a  hope  that  I  should  start 
with  his  daughter,  and  begged  me  to  let  him  know  by 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  203 

telegram  whether  I  did  so.  But  my  patience,  which  I 
had  hitherto  beeii  able  to  keep  throughout  this  involved 
affair,  was  now  exhausted.  It  would  have  been  the 
simplest  thing  in  the  world  for  Mr.  Cosserat  to  telegraph 
to  the  Catholic  Bishop  of  Bombay,  or  to  the  Lady  Superior 
at  Bandora,  and  ask  them  to  get  back  the  1000  rupees 
from  the  P.  &  O.  Company,  and  the  rest  of  the  money 
from  the  German  consul.  But  this  he  was  cautious  not 
to  do,  and  I  was  driven  into  a  vortex  of  annoyance,  in 
which  all  the  trouble  was  flung  upon  me.  The  company 
was  by  no  means  bound  to  return  the  1000  rupees  to  me 
on  the  very  day  the  vessel  started.  I  knew  the  cabin  I 
had  engaged  had  been  refused  to  others  since  Monday, 
the  day  on  which  the  superintendent  had  promised  it 
to  me.  The  Bishop  of  Bombay,  who,  no  doubt,  had 
received  tidings  and  telegrams  from  Fatna,  made  no  sign 
until  the  steamer  was  just  leaving  the  harbour.  And 
the  Lady  Superior  at  Bandora,  who,  as  the  last  telegram 
informed  me,  had  been  requested  to  keep  Mr.  Cosserat's 
daughter  in  the  convent,  denied  that  this  was  so,  and 
entreated  me  to  take  the  poor  invalid  away.  Every  one 
wished  to  get  rid  of  her,  and  to  send  her  a  long  distance 
off,  for  Colaba,  the  lunatic  asylum,  was  close  to  Bombay. 
But  none  of  those  concerned,  neither  her  father,  nor  the 
Ladies  Superior  at  Patna  and  Bandora,  nor  the  Bishop 
of  Bombay,  although  he  suggested  her  removal  there, 
made  the  slightest  attempt  to  have  the  poor  creature 
taken  to  Colaba.  It  was  easy  to  see  that  she  was  not  to 
remain  in  India,  or  to  be  taken  to  any  asylum,  but  only 
to  the  convent  at  Nymphenburg,  in  Europe.  To  me, 
who  looked  at  this  complicated  affair  with  feelings  of 


204  THE  NORTH  STAR 

compassion  only,  it  seemed  better  that  the  poor  creature 
should  be  taken  away  from  the  loveless  home  of  her  early 
childhood.  And  in  my  earnest  pity  I  hoped  that  the  many 
distractions  which  I  intended  to  provide  for  her  on  the 
journey  in  countries  cooler  than  India,  might  affect  her 
spirits,  and  bring  about  a  salutary  change  in  the  yountj 
lady's  mind.  My  will  and  my  intentions  were  good,  and 
it  was  my  firm  resolve  to  do  everything  for  the  unhappy 
creature  which  love  and  pity  could  dictate. 

On  Saturday  morning,  at  ten  o'clock,  I  drove  to  the 
convent  at  Bandora  to  fetch  my  protegee  to  start  on  her 
journey  to  Europe.  I  found  her  waiting  for  me,  with 
the  Lady  Superior  at  the  gate  of  the  convent,  holding  a 
little  bundle  in  her  hand. 

"  Are  you  come  to  take  me  away  from  this  convent 
now?"  she  said,  giving  me  a  long,  pleading  look  from  her 
usually  rigid  eyes,  and  I  replied  with  a  smiling  "yes." 
I  asked  the  Lady  Superior,  who  was  extremely  amiable 
and  friendly,  whether  she  had  received  any  news  from 
Patna.  She  said  no,  but  that  the  bishop  had  informed 
her  the  day  before  that  I  should  start  to-day  with  the 
invalid.  Whilst  she  was  speaking,  the  lunatic  began  to  tell 
me  a  dreadful  ghost  story,  assuring  me,  with  terribly  dis- 
torted eyes,  that  there  were  horrible  ghosts  in  all  convents, 
and  that  they  were  all  alive,  and  wandering  about  by  day 
and  by  night.  There  was  a  German  Jesuit  Father  in  the 
convent  at  Bandora,  who  had  several  times  offered  to  give 
me  letters  to  priests  in  Cairo  and  Alexandria,  so  that  I 
might,  if  necessary,  be  able  to  get  suitable  accommodation 
for  the  lunatic  in  those  cities.  The  father  now  came,  wished 
me  a  pleasant  voyage,  adding  that  what  I  was  doing 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  205 

would  merit  the  reward  of  Heaven,  and  the  amiable  Lady 
Superior  seconded  him  in  this  expression  of  opinion.  I 
then  reminded  the  reverend  father  of  his  promised  letters 
for  Egypt,  but  he  said  that  he  had  no  authority  to  give 
them  to  me,  without  the  permission  of  the  bishop.  The 
amiable  Lady  Superior,  however,  who  was  ready  to  do 
anything  in  her  delight  to  get  rid  of  the  poor  lunatic, 
offered  to  ask  the  bishop  for  these  letters  herself.  It  was, 
she  said,  while  wiping  her  tearless  eyes,  the  case  of  an 
unfortunate  creature,  and  his  Lordship  would  be  certain  to 
grant  her  request.  She  sent  for  two  orphan  girls,  asked  me 
to  pay  for  a  carriage  for  them  to  Fort  Chapel,  from  there 
to  Mr.  Deimler's,  and  then  back  to  the  convent,  and  told 
me  that  in  two  hours  at  the  latest  the  letters  of  recom- 
mendation from  the  bishop  should  be  delivered  to  me  at 
my  friend's  residence.  I  had  no  confidence  in  the  words 
of  the  Lady  Superior,  or  in  the  bishop's  kindness,  but  I 
thought  I  would  see  if  he  had  forgiven  me,  and  would  act 
like  a  Christian  in  this  emergency,  so  I  gave  the  orphan 
girls  three  rupees  for  the  carriage,  and  one  rupee  for 
their  trouble.  They  then  drove  off  to  Fort  Chapel,  with 
the  Lady  Superior's  letter,  whilst  I  returned  with  my 
•poor  protegee  to  my  friends  in  Gunpowder  Road,  Mazagon, 
Bombay.  At  one  o'clock  we  dined,  the  poor  lunatic  sitting 
amongst  us,  but  she  soon  became  very  restless,  and  left 
the  table.  She  wandered  all  over  the  house,  moaning,  and 
complaining  so  piteously,  that  I  at  once  began  to  realise 
what  I  had  undertaken,  for  I  could  not  leave  her  for  a 
moment.  Three  hours  passed  by,  and  the  orphan  girls 
had  not  appeared  with  the  bishop's  letter,  and  I  may 
as  well  add  at  once  that  I  never  saw  them  again,  so 


206  THE  NORTH  STAB 

that  I  had  thrown  away  four  rupees.  I  might,  how- 
ever, have  known  from  experience,  that  the  bishop  was 
not  the  man  to  behave  in  a  noble  and  Christian  manner. 
I  felt  very  sad,  when  parting  from  the  worthy  clergy- 
man and  his  good  wife,  for  whom  I  had  conceived  the 
greatest  affection  and  esteem  during  my  stay  with  them. 
Mrs.  D.,  as  she  looked  at  the  miserable  creature,  who 
she  knew  would  bring  me  constant  anxiety  and  peril, 
seized  my  hand,  and  pressing  it  warmly,  exclaimed, 
sobbing,  "  God  protect  you ! "  and  then  gave  me  a  hearty 
kiss,  a  true  German  kiss. 

I  now  left  the  peaceful,  happy  home  of  the  clergyman, 
and,  accompanied  by  him  to  the  steamer,  I  commenced  my 
fatal  journey.  On  our  way  to  the  harbour,  the  invalid 
was  very  wilful,  so  that  my  heart  sank  within  me,  and  it 
would  be  impossible  for  me  to  describe  what  my  feelings 
were.  A  small  boat  took  us  from  the  beach  to  the  steamer 
Golconda  /  the  kind-hearted  Mr.  Deimler,  noticing  my 
nervous  anxiety  about  the  invalid,  said  many  cheering 
words,  and  urged  me  to  consider,  not  only  my  protegee,  but 
myself,  that  I  might  retain  sufficient  health  and  strength 
to  fulfil  my  difficult  task  and  my  duty  towards  her. 

Our  boat  now  lay-to  at  the  side  of  the  Golconda,  and  it 
was  hard  work  to  get  the  refractory  patient  up  the  steep 
steps  of  the  vessel.  The  purser  and  doctor,  who  had  received 
notice  of  the  arrival  of  the  lunatic  passenger,  tried  with 
kind  words  to  lead  her  to  my  cabin,  but  the  condition  that 
she  should  never  leave  it  was  broken  before  we  left  the 
harbour  of  Bombay.  Miss  Cosserat  was  not  to  be 
persuaded  to  stay  in  the  cabin,  and  fearing  that  I  should 
be  blamed  if  the  stipulated  condition  was  not  fulfilled,  1 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  207 

wanted  to  shut  myself  in  with  her,  but  the  doctor,  a  kind- 
hearted  man,  said  to  me  in  a  most  sympathetic  manner : 
"  You  shall  not  be  a  prisoner,  Miss  Weppner ;  I  know  what 
your  relations  are  with  this  poor  creature,  and  I  can  only 
marvel  at  your  courage  in  undertaking  such  a  task ;  your 
conduct  is  a  true  sacrifice,  and  you  shall  not  be  robbed  of 
the  little  freedom  you  can  enjoy  with  the  charge  of  this 
unhappy  lady.  So  far  as  is  consistent  with  my  duty,  I 
will  do  all  in  my  power  to  lighten  your  responsibility." 
The  doctor  then  himself  took  the  invalid  on  deck,  and  I 
sat  down  with  her  in  the  stern  of  the  vessel,  which  was 
gradually  becoming  fuller  and  fuller  of  passengers.  The 
poor  lunatic  was  the  observed  of  everybody,  but  she  herself 
noticed  nothing,  and  judging  from  the  sad  and  hopeless 
expression  of  her  face,  she  was  in  a  dark  world  of  her  own, 
and  did  not  realise  where  she  was.  Presently  she  rested 
her  feeble  head  against  my  shoulder  and  seemed  to 
sleep. 

Mr.  Deimler  manifested  the  greatest  sympathy  and 
consideration  for  me.  He  had  come  from  Europe  on  the 
Golconda,  and  being  acquainted  with  the  staff  of  the  vessel, 
he  now  went  from  one  member  to  another,  urging  them 
to  do  all  they  could  for  me  on  the  journey.  The  anchor 
was  weighed,  Mr.  Deimler  said  his  last  kind  words,  and 
returned  to  his  boat.  He  had  hardly  left  when  Consul 
Gumpert  came  up  to  me,  and  having  introduced  a  friend  of 
his,  who  was  to  be  a  fellow  passenger  to  Europe,  he  handed 
me  an  open  letter  from  "  Angela  von  Hoffmann,"  the  Lady 
Superior  at  Allahabad,  of  whom  I  had  heard  nothing  since 
the  day  when  Mrs.  Foy  had  arrived  at  the  Consul's  office 
with  the  lunatic.  The  letter  was  addressed  merely  to  "  Miss 


208  THE  NORTH  STAR 

Weppner,  Bombay,"  but,  as  I  could  see,  had  been  opened 
by  some  one.  I  asked  the  consul  how  this  open  letter 
had  come  into  his  hands,  and  he  said  it  had  been  sent  to 
his  office  but  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before  by  the  bishop, 
and  that  if  the  starting  of  the  Golconda  had  not  been 
put  off  for  an  hour  I  should  not  have  received  the  letter 
before  leaving  Bombay. 

"  A  curious  monastic  web,"  I  exclaimed ;  "  everything  is 
pre-arranged  to  the  very  last  moment."  I  then  looked  at 
the  date  of  the  open  letter,  which  was  "  Allahabad,  April 
23rd."  It  was  now  the  29th  of  April,  and  it  takes  thirty- 
six  hours  only  for  letters  from  Allahabad  to  reach  Bombay ; 
indeed,  I  had  received  Mr.  Cosserat's  letter,  dated  from 
Patna,  the  26th  of  April,  on  the  28th,  and  Patna  is  farther 
from  Bombay  than  Allahabad.  The  letter  in  question 
had  therefore  arrived  at  Fort  Chapel  three  whole  days 
before  it  was  forwarded  to  me.  And  either  the  Jesuit 
Father,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cooke,  had  received  it  and  given  it  to 
his  superior,  Bishop  Meurin,  or  the  Bishop  himself  had 
received  it,  kept  it  in  his  possession  until  the  time  for  the 
departure  of  the  Golconda  had,  as  he  suspected,  gone  by, 
and  then,  in  order  to  appear  conscientious,  had  sent  the 
letter  to  the  consul,  whose  office  is  near  to  Fort  Chapel. 
It  was  strange,  too,  that  all  my  other  letters  and  tele- 
grams relating  to  the  poor  lunatic  had  been  addressed 
to  me  at  the  German  consul's,  whereas  this  was  directed 
to  "Fort  Chapel."  The  letter  contained  some  stale 
news,  and  a  communication  which  I  was  not  intended 
to  receive  before  I  left,  and  which  had,  therefore,  been 
kept  back  by  the  wise  bishop  until  the  last  moment.  My 
correspondent  informed  me  that  Mrs.  Foy,  on  her  return 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  209 

from  Bombay,  had  told  her  that  I  had  asked  her  to  take 
the  young  lady  back  to  Patna,  which  she  had  refused  to 
do.  And  therefore  she  (Angela  von  H.)  had  immediately 
requested  the  Lady  Superior  at  Bandora  by  telegram 
to  keep  her  in  her  convent  until  some  one  could  be 
found  to  take  her  to  the  convent  at  Nymphenburg  in 
Bavaria.  It  was  clear  that  the  bishop  had  a  motive  for 
not  letting  me  have  this  letter  before  I  left  Bombay,  for 
if  he  had,  I  could  have  given  the  Lady  Superior  at 
Bandora  a  positive  dementi  to  her  assertions,  that  she 
had  never  received  any  message  requesting  her  to  keep 
the  poor  invalid  in  her  charge. 

On  every  one  of  the  last  three  days  I  had  asked  her  if 
she  had  heard  anything  about  keeping  poor  Miss  Cosserat 
in  the  convent,  and  she  always  said  no.  The  bishop,  whom 
she  had  asked  for  the  pills,  and  who  actually  had  proposed 
to  the  German  consul  to  remove  the  lunatic  from  the 
convent  to  Colaba,  was,  of  course,  aware  of  all  that  went 
on.  Had  the  right  reverend  gentleman,  therefore,  given 
me  this  letter  at  the  proper  time,  instead  of  keeping  it 
in  his  hands  for  three  days,  I  could  have  convicted  the 
Lady  Superior  at  Bandora  with  having  purposely  with- 
held the  truth  for  the  sake  of  getting  rid  of  her  unhappy 
charge.  The  steamer  Golconda  did  not  leave  until  an  hour 
and  a  half  later  than  the  time  fixed,  and  the  German 
consul  remained  beside  me  and  Miss  Cosserat  until  the  last 
moment.  And  when  his  friend  had  left  us,  he  informed 
me  of  another  equally  astounding  and  diplomatically- 
premeditated  piece  of  news,  viz.,  that  the  bishop  had 
received  a  telegram  in  the  morning  from  the  Lady  Superior 
at  Patna,  asking  him  to  receive  the  sum  of  money  in  my 
VOL.  n.  14 


210  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

hands  and  the  lunatic  from  me,  in  case  I  decided  not  to 
take  the  latter  to  Europe. 

Since  the  morning,  when  he  received  the  telegram,  the 
bishop  had  had  time  to  let  me  know  its  contents  fifty 
times  over ;  but  he  chose  to  wait  until  it  was  impossible 
to  alter  anything.  I  now  understood  why  the  two  orphan 
girls,  sent '  by  the  Lady  Superior  of  Bandora,  to  Fort 
Chapel,  did  not  come  back  to  me.  I  had  not  the  slightest 
doubt  that  the  bishop  would  have  received  the  sum  of 
money  from  my  hands  if  I  had  brought  it  to  him.  But 
I  am  doing  no  injustice  to  this  exalted  priest,  this 
merciless  servant  of  God,  who  treated  me  so  harshly  and 
uncharitably,  when  I  say  that  I  felt  him  to  be  the  last 
man  in  all  India  to  make  a  single  effort  in  behalf  of  a 
poor  neglected  Protestant,  or  to  make  any  attempt  to 
provide  for  her  suitable  accommodation.  His  silence,  and 
his  action  behind  the  scenes,'  was  a  piece  of  wise  diplo- 
macy ;  and  he  knew  better  than  to  take  any  public  steps 
in  connection  with  the  monastic  drama  of  a  lunatic 
Protestant.  Probably  I  shall  never  see  the  father  of  my 
poor  protegee,  but  he  certainly  is  the  most  singular  and 
incomprehensible  of  all  Protestants  whose  acquaintance 
I  have  made,  either  face  to  face,  or  from  a  distance,  by 
mail  and  wire ;  for,  so  far,  I  had  never  heard  of  any 
Protestant  who  had  as  his  regent  a  Lady  Superior  of  a 
Eoman  Catholic  convent,  and  requested  a  Koman  Catholic 
bishop  to  take  charge  of  his  lunatic  child  and  his  money. 

Before  the  German  consul  left  me,  he  told  me  the 
bishop  had  requested  him,  by  a  note  sent  in  the  morning, 
to  have  the  letter  back  in  which  he  had  asked  for  the 
pills.  I  told  Mr.  Gumpert  that  the  letter  was  in  my 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  211 

trunk,  and  that  I  could  not,  at  that  moment,  leave  my 
poor  protegee  to  look  for  it;  moreover,  I  observed  that  it 
was  no  longer  the  property  of  the  bishop,  but  of  himself, 
to  whom  his  Lordship  had  written  for  the  pills,  and  that 
he,  the  consul,  had  given  it  to  me. 

Mr.  Gumpert  now  rose  to  go ;  but,  before  we  parted, 
the  same  words  burst  from  the  lips  of  both :  "  An  incom- 
prehensible and  involved  affair  from  beginning  to  end,  in 
which  the  one  tangible  fact  is  this  pitiable  figure."  With 
this  remark,  the  consul  pressed  the  hand  of  the  poor 
lunatic.  I  thanked  him  again  and  again  for  all  his 
kindness  to  her  and  to  myself,  and  shaking  me  by  the 
hand  once  more,  he  said,  "  Good  bye,  may  Heaven  pro- 
tect you ; "  adding,  with  a  jesting  smile,  "  and  next  time 
you  go  to  a  Roman  Catholic  bishop,  I  hope  you  will  not 
neglect  your  Roman  Catholic  duties,  and  forget  to  kiss 
his  consecrated  ring." 

The  steamer  had  now  taken  in  its  entire  freight,  all 
the  passengers  had  come  on  board,  the  last  signal  was 
given,  the  Golconda  was  off  and  steaming  rapidly  along 
the  coast.  We  soon  lost  sight  of  the  Indian  peninsula, 
as  we  sped  on  our  way  towards  Aden,  on  the  south-west 
coast  of  Arabia,  which  was  to  be  our  first  stopping-place. 
We  were  now  in  the  Indian  Ocean ;  it  was  a  glorious 
night,  and  I  remained  seated  where  I  had  been  when 
Mr.  Deimler  and  Consul  Gumpert  had  left  me.  There 
I  had  taken  my  dinner ;  but  the  poor  lunatic  had  refused 
to  touch  anything,  and  still  leant  against  me,  looking  now 
at  the  clear,  bright  moon,  and  now  into  the  deep  blue 
sea.  Presently,  however,  my  patience  was  put  to  a  long 
and  severe  trial,  for  my  charge  got  up,  went  to  the  side 


213  THE  NORTH  STAR 

of  the  vessel,  and  gazed  with  hopeless,  despairing  eyes 
into  the  rolling  waves.  I  endeavoured,  with  the  kindest 
words,  to  persuade  her  to  come  with  me  to  our  cabin,  but 
all  in  vain.  She  was  pale  and  weak,  and  becoming  tired 
of  standing  about,  she  laid  herself  down  on  the  hard 
deck,  refusing  to  take  a  chair.  A  sailor  then  attempted 
to  carry  her  to  the  cabin ;  but  she  became  very  violent, 
and  struck  both  him  and  me.  The  stewardess,  a  young 
Englishwoman,  had  declined  to  have  anything  to  do  with 
my  protegee,  and  would  not  venture  near  her.  She  was 
attentive  enough  to  me  personally ;  but  not  once,  through- 
out the  whole  journey,  could  she  be  persuaded  to  watch 
over  Miss  Cosserat  for  five  minutes  only.  One  of  the 
stewards,  however,  an  obliging  and  trustworthy  English 
man,  had  received  orders  from  the  captain  and  purser  to 
do  what  he  could  to  help  me,  and  this  he  did  with  the 
greatest  readiness,  and  with  rare  patience- 
It  was  now  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  Miss 
Cosserat  still  remained  obstinate,  and  did  not  move  from 
where  she  had  first  lain  down.  I  was  therefore  compelled 
to  fall  in  with  her  humour,  and  to  spend  the  night  on 
deck.  This  was  a  new  experience  in  my  travels,  for  I 
had  never  slept  in  the  open  air,  except  once  in  the  half 
tumbled-down  rhinoceros  stable  in  the  primeval  forest  in 
Java,  and  then  I  had  done  so  by  my  own  free  will. 

The  moonbeams  fell  full  upon  the  deck,  and  upon  the 
pale  face  of  the  half-slumbering  invalid,  and  as  I  waa 
afraid  they  might  be  hurtful  to  her,  the  good  captain,  at 
my  request,  was  kind  enough  to  order  the  whole  of  the 
stern  of  the  vessel  to  be  covered  in  with  sails.  The 
steward  then  brought  up  two  mattresses,  which  were 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  218 

placed  in  a  shaded  corner  behind  the  rudder,  and  this 
spot  was  my  resting-place  for  fourteen  nights — that 
is  to  say,  only  when  in  the  intervals  of  watching  and 
wandering  about  I  was  able  to  take  a  short  rest. 

For  a  long  time  the  patient  declined  to  go  to  bed ;  she 
was  very  stubborn  and  treated  me  insolently  ;  but,  at  last, 
after  I  had  plied  her  with  the  gentlest  entreaties  at  my 
command,  she  yielded  to  my  wishes  and  lay  down.  My 
bed  was  quite  close  to  hers  ;  but  I  could  not  sleep.  How 
often  in  this  long  night  did  I  look  silently  up  into  the 
beautiful  sky,  praying  for  patience  and  strength!  Now 
and  then  my  poor  protegee  flung  up  her  arms,  or  gazed 
round  about  her  with  terror  in  her  great  blue  eyes ;  and 
sometimes  she  would  seize  my  hand  convulsively,  and 
relate  visions  so  awful  that  they  made  my  blood  run  cold, 
and  in  all  of  which  her  father  and  the  Roman  Catholic 
nuns  at  Patna  were  the  most  prominent  figures. 

In  the  morning,  I  felt  more  tired  and  exhausted  than 
I  had  felt  the-  night  before,  and  leaving  a  sailor  to  watch 
over  the  invalid,  I  went  and  refreshed  myself  with  a  cold 
bath  out  of  Neptune's  lap. 

If  it  had  been  difficult  to  get  Miss  Cosserat  to  go  to  bed, 
it  was  equally  difficult  to  persuade  her  to  get  up  again. 
It  was  altogether  impossible  to  get  her  to  eat  and  drink,  to 
go  to  bed  and  get  up,  or  to  dress  and  undress  at  regular 
hours.  The  poor  creature  could  not  distinguish  between 
day  and  night ;  and,  worst  of  all,  she  had  lost  all  sense 
of  decency  and  cleanliness.  She  was  wandering  in  a 
confused  chaos  in  a  living-dead  world,  the  creation  of  her 
own  disordered  imagination.  My  journey  from  Bombay 
to (the  reader  will  learn  where  in  due  time)  was  a 


214  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

melancholy  and  terrible  journey.  I  had  to  realise,  with 
many  and  bitter  tears,  what  it  means  to  watch  over  a 
female  lunatic,  who  no  longer  knew  or  could  govern 
herself ;  and  that  at  sea,  on  a  steamer,  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  the  deep,  and  containing  some  hundred  pas- 
sengers besides  ourselves.  In  addition  to  all  this,  I  was 
again  visited  by  the  fearful  scourge  of  sea-sickness, 
during  which  I  found  it  extremely  difficult  to  watch  over 
the  poor  invalid.  Only  my  Heavenly  Father,  who  knows 
everything,  He  alone  knows  my  anxiety,  my  dread,  and 
troubles,  and  my  tears  and  prayers  in  the  fearful  voyage 
from  India  to . 

But  for  my  sustaining  faith  and  confidence  in  a  higher 
Power,  but  for  invisible  comfort  and  support,  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  persevere  and  endure  to  the 
end. 

With  the  exception  of  one  German  merchant  and 
myself,  all  the  first-class  passengers  were  English,  all  of 
whom  were  ladies  and  gentlemen,  and  more  or  less 
refined.  But  for  all  that,  this  cultivated  company  divided 
themselves  into  various  cliques,  and  the  distinctions  of 
their  rank  and  position  were  observed  with  as  much 
strictness,  and  the  same  freezing  pride  here  at  sea  as  on 
land.  The  forbidding  demeanour  and  contemptuous  look 
of  some  of  them,  formed  an  insuperable  barrier  between 
the  different  higher  classes  of  this  Christian  company. 
It  was,  indeed,  painful  to  me,  to  observe  how  some  of  the 
most  prominent  passengers  glared  at  others,  that  were 
one  degree  or  two  of  caste  below  them,  like  sworn  enemies. 
Sometimes  it  happened  that  one  of  those  high-caste 
Christians  met  a  brother  of  lower  caste  by  going  up  or 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  215 

down  the  narrow  staircase,  where  it  was  difficult  to  back 
out.  The  poor,  frightened  high-caste  man,  in  such  an 
emergency,  would  do  his  very  utmost  to  crush  in  the 
wall,  in  order  to  keep  at  a  respectable  noble-blooded 
distance,  while  the  inferior  gentleman  and  fellow-pas- 
senger was  passing  his  holy  body.  The  one  evidently 
shunned  the  other  like  an  infectious  disease. 

O  Christianity,  is  that  thy  teaching  ?  This  inhuman 
pride  and  mutual  contempt  among  Christian  men  of  in- 
tellect— is  this  the  obedience  to  the  commandment  of  our 
divine  teacher?  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  God,"  &c.,  "  and 
thy  neighbour  like  thyself." 

Once,  when  observing  such  mal  d  propos  encounter 
and  the  zoological  shyness  of  two  finely-dressed  pas- 
sengers, the  thought  occurred  to  me,  what  would  be 
the  demeanour  of  these  proud  and  sensitive  Christians, 
should  Heaven,  in  its  anger,  send  a  tempest  to  destroy  the 
frail  vessel  that  carried  the  brother  foes,  and  plunge  them 
into  eternity  ?  Would  they,  when  on  the  brink  of  life, 
forget  the  foolish  notions  of  the  superiority  of  their  blood  ? 
Would  they,  when  facing  death,  and  when  descending  into 
one  common  grave,  shun  or  recognise  their  despised 
Christian  fellow-men  ?  I  more  than  once  grew  tired  of 
observing  that  detestable  pride,  that  most  inhuman,  most 
Pharisaical  and  indurating  of  all  qualities,  accompanied 
as  it  usually  is,  with  that  (to  say  the  least)  sickening 
stiffness,  both  of  which  are  calculated  to  destroy  the 
charm  of  social  intercourse.  I  never,  on  all  my  travels, 
had  had  an  opportunity  to  view  and  to  study  such 
a  cold  and  unsociable  company,  as  the  one  on  board 
the  Golconda  between  Bombay  and  Suez.  An  English 


316  THE  NORTH  STAR 

lady,  a  first-class  passenger,  I  saw  sitting  with  the 
exception  of  her  meal  times  for  thirteen  long  days  on 
a  bench  on  deck  the  steamer,  and  she  was  never  given 
one  single  opportunity  of  conversation.  She  seemed 
a  perfect  lady,  but  looked  very  dull,  yet  none  of  the 
many  lady -passengers  felt  the  charity  to  pity  her  in  her 
lonely  state,  and  I,  myself,  being  compelled  to  take  con- 
tinual care  of  my  poor  lunatic  protegee,  had  not  the  time 
to  break  her  painful  silence  with  a  friendly  word.  What 
savage  customs  of  Christian  refinement!  The  poor  lady 
could  not  introduce  herself  to  anybody,  and  nobody 
had  the  kindness  or  the  courage  to  introduce  her  to  any 
one,  so  in  the  midst  of  every  one  she  sat  a  sad,  speechless 
traveller.  Should  this  poor  lady,  situated  under  equally 
silent  circumstances  on  any  other  steamer,  on  any  other 
sea,  circumnavigate  the  globe,  she  would,  I  am  afraid, 
learn  and  gain  very  little  from  social  intercourse  on  her 
circular  trip. 

Yet  all  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  on  board  the 
Golconda,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  men  and  women 
of  rank,  showed  the  most  considerate  sympathy  for  me 
in  my  arduous  watching  over  Miss  Cosserat,  who  required 
every  moment  of  my  time.  But  some  high-caste  passengers 
thought  it  beneath  their  high-blooded  dignity  to  pity  an 
unfortunate  countrywoman,  and  the  inhuman  coldness 
and  pride  which  they  exhibited,  when  meeting  the  poor 
lunatic,  was  very  hurtful  to  me.  I  could  never  leave  her, 
unless  some  one  else  was  good  enough  to  relieve  me,  and  as 
she  had  no  notion  of  order,  I  was  obliged  to  break  through 
all  my  own  rules  and  to  accommodate  myself  entirely  to 
her  humour.  The  worst  features  of  her  case  were  her 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CR088.  217 

constant  hankering  after  suicide,  her  sleeplessness,  sloven- 
liness and  love  of  quarrelling.  If  she  did  not  worry  me 
with  one  of  these  peculiarities,  she  worried  me  with 
another.  I  never  had  any  peace,  for  even  when  she  was 
asleep  I  had  to  watch  her,  and  sometimes  I  spent  the 
whole  night  in  following  her  from  one  part  of  the  ship  to 
another.  I  became,  in  fact,  a  compulsory  night  wanderer, 
for  she  had  hardly  lain  down  -before  she  would  start 
np  and  generally  run  to  the  side  of  the  vessel,  whilst  I, 
close  behind  her,  would  take  hold  of  her  arm  gently,  and 
beg  her  to  come  back.  Then  she  would  become  impatient 
with  me  and  scold  me,  and  she  but  rarely  obeyed  me. 
Now,  perhaps,  she  would  stand  about  five  minutes  at  the 
bow  of  the  ship,  then  suddenly  dash  away  to  the  unpro- 
tected machinery,  and  with  a  loud  wild  laugh,  ringing 
out  through  the  silent  night,  threaten  to  fling  herself 
.amongst  it.  Nothing  but  my  most  careful  watching 
prevented  her  from  doing  so,  and,  on  one  occasion,  she 
nearly  succeeded  in  accomplishing  her  purpose,  for  I  had 
not  strength  enough  to  hold  her,  and  she  wrenched  away 
her  arm  from  my  detaining  hand  with  angry  rage.  1 
screamed  for  help,  and  a  sailor  hurried  to  us,  seized  the 
invalid  and  carried  her  away.  Another  time,  when  the 
doctor  was  watching  her,  she  made  a  similar  attempt. 
She  generally  took  up  her  position  in  the  most  dangerous 
parts  of  the  vessel,  and  her  favourite  spots  were  quite  at 
the  edge  of  the  steamer,  close  to  the  machinery,  or  at  the 
edge  of  the  skylight,  which  on  account  of  the  great  heat 
had  to  be  left  open.  Now  this  skylight  had  a  very  narrow 
rim,  and  Miss  Cosserat  would  seat  herself  upon  it  in  such 
a  very  insecure  attitude  that  we  were  in  momentary  dread 


218  THE  NORTH  STAR 

that  she  would  fall  into  the  saloon.  All  entreaties  to  her 
to  move  were  in  vain,  and  if  I  approached  her,  she  would 
wave  me  away  with  threatening  gestures.  One  or 
another  gentleman,  however,  would  generally  come  to  my 
assistance,  and  the  poor  creature  was  overreached  by  some 
sudden  manoeuvre  and  carried  away.  Often,  when  niy 
patience  was  too  sorely  tried,  my  courage  failed  me,  and 
unable  to  keep  the  tears  back  I  wept  and  said,  "  I  cannot 
bear  such  another  day  or  such  another  night ; "  but  the 
sight  of  my  unhappy  patient  herself,  and  the  kindness 
and  sympathy  of  the  passengers  always  restored  my 
courage. 

The  night  was  the  worst  time,  for  if  I  snatched  a  short 
nap,  in  my  open  bedroom  beneath  the  vast  canopy  of 
heaven,  I  was  never  really  comfortable  ;  compelled  to  be 
prepared  at  every  moment  for  a  sudden  march,  and  con- 
stantly surrounded  by  the  guard  on  watch,  I  could  never 
be  much  at  ease,  or  have  such  comfort  as  I  could  have 
in  my  cabin.  Sometimes  in  the  depth  of  the  night  poor 
Miss  C.  took  a  fancy  to  scold  me,  and  often  she  woke  me 
up  on  the  mere  pretence  to  give  me  a  good  scolding. 
As  soon  as  the  day  began  to  dawn  the  entire  deck  was 
washed,  and  the  faithful  steward,  who  was  always  at  my 
service,  came  and  took  my  bed  away,  but  the  one  which 
my  patient  used  was  never  moved.  The  kind,  obliging 
captain,  to  humour  the  poor  creature,  and  lessen  my 
trouble  as  much  as  possible,  gave  me  full  freedom,  and 
allowed  the  lunatic  to  lie  down  on  her  bed  whenever  it 
pleased  her. 

It  was  indeed  a  formidable  undertaking  to  get  Miss 
Cosserat  to  come  to  the  cabin  every  morning  and  allow 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  219 

herself  to  be  washed  and  dressed.  She  had  a  fixed  notion 
that  it  was  the  latest  Paris  fashion  to  wear  a  stocking  on 
the  left  foot  only,  and  she  held  that  for  the  right  foot  firmly 
in  her  right  hand,  day  and  night,  and  nothing  could 
induce  her  to  give  it  up.  She  had  a  mania,  too,  for 
following  me  closely,  directly  I  attempted  to  leave  her, 
and  she  tried  to  annoy  me  in  every  possible  way.  Some- 
times one  or  another  of  us  was  able  to  put  a  stop  to  her 
intolerable  persecutions,  sometimes  not.  She  tried  to 
destroy  everything  in  my  cabin  which  could  be  destroyed, 
and  I  was  obliged  to  hide  everything  of  value  from  her. 
No  mischief,  no  cunning,  was  beyond  her  reach.  One 
day  she  tore  my  gold  watch  and  chain  out  of  the  band  of 
my  dress,  and  with  one  spring  she  was  at  the  open  window, 
about  to  throw  them  into  the  sea.  Fortunately  the  doctor 
came  in  at  this  moment,  and  I  had  caught  hold  of  part  of 
the  chain;  but  the  watch  was  already  hanging  out  of  the 
window,  and  it  took  two  men  to  open  the  hand  in  which 
she  held  the  rest  of  the  chain.  Finding  herself  dis- 
appointed in  her  craving  for  destruction  she  was  very 
angry,  and  the  rest  of  the  morning  I  was  really  in 
danger.  She  was  sly  enorfgh  to  get  my  keys  out  of  my 
satchel  behind  my  back  and  to  hide  them  away ;  she  then 
threw  herself  on  the  sofa  in  the  cabin  and  pretended  to 
be  sleepy.  The  doctor  told  me  to  go  and  get  my  break- 
fast, and  he  would  have  me  called  when  she  woke.  The 
doctor's  room  was  next  to  mine,  and  by  leaving  the  doors 
open  he  could  hear  what  she  was  about.  But  as  soon  as 
I  was  gone  and  the  doctor  had  retired  to  his  cabin,  she 
softly  shut  and  bolted  the  door,  opened  my  trunk,  took 
out  a  pair  of  scissors,  and  cut  up  everything  she  had  on. 


220  THE  NORTH  STAR 

She  also  took  all  my  things  out  of  the  trunk,  scattered 
them  about,  cutting  up  some  which  were  of  value.  At 
last  the  doctor  heard  a  noise  as  if  she  were  trying  to 
open  the  window.  He  hurried  out  of  his  cabin,  but  finding 
the  door  of  mine  locked,  he  could  aot  get  in,  and  the 
carpenter  had  just  broken  open  the  door  when  I  came 
back.  I  found  my  room  in  the  greatest  disorder,  and  the 
lunatic  was  so  wild  that  the  doctor  made  me  a  sign  to  go 
away.  Weak  and  suffering  as  she  appeared,  the  unhappy 
creature  had  broken  a  strong  cross-bar,  which  the  carpen- 
ter had  fastened  across  the  window  the  day  before,  and 
she  expressed  her  intention  of  flinging  herself  into  the 
sea.  On  this  occasion  the  poor  creature  was  so  terribly 
violent,  and  put  out  such  an  amount  of  muscular  power, 
that  it  took  three  men  to  master  her.  Her  fearful  excite- 
ment lasted  an  hour,  and  she  so  exhausted  herself  by  her 
exertions,  that  she  finally  sank  down,  death-like  and  mo- 
tionless, and  was  lifted  up  by  the  men  and  placed  on  the 
eofa,  where  she  lay  for  three  hours  in  a  state  of  uncon- 
sciousness resembling  death. 

The  invalid  ate  and  drank  so  little,  that  it  was  a  marvel 
how  she  sustained  life.  As  I  could  not  take  her  to  the 
general  table,  an  extra  table  was  laid  for  us  in  the  saloon. 
I  often  got  her  as  far  as  the  table,  but  then  off  she 
would  run,  and  if  she  was  persuaded  to  sit  down,  she  played 
the  maddest  pranks  all  the  time  we  were  at  the  meal. 
Of  course,  I  never  gave  her  a  knife,  but  cut  up  everything 
as  for  a  child.  "With  food  with  which  other  people  would 
eat  salt,  Miss  Cosserat  chose  to  eat  sugar,  and  she  put 
salt  into  tea  and  coffee.  She  often  poured  a  quantity  ot 
water  or  vinegar  over  the  food  I  had  prepared  for  her,  and 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  221 

always  put  some  of  this  "  soup  "  on  to  my  plate  before 
she  began  to  eat  it.  The  doctor  wished  me  to  give  her  wine 
or  beer  with  her  food,  that  she  might  at  least  take  some- 
thing nourishing,  but  she  always  spilt  everything  of  the 
kind  over  my  meat  and  vegetables,  the  table  or  the  floor. 
When  we  thought  her  in  a  dangerous  humour,  one  or 
another  gentleman  would  join  us  at  table  to  prevent  her 
doing  me  any  harm,  for  although  Miss  Cosserat  was  not 
the  least  afraid  of  me  or  any  other  lady,  she  stood  in  awe 
of  men,  and  sometimes  obeyed  them. 

On  the  fifth  day  of  the  voyage  a  great  misfortune  befell 
me.  One  of  the  dear  little  dancing  pigeons  I  had  brought 
with  me  from  Delhi  to  Bombay,  had  laid  three  eggs, 
which  broke  the  shell  the  very  day  I  left  Bombay.  Mr. 
Deimler's  servant  had  brought  all  the  little  creatures 
(Carefully  on  board  the  Golconda,  and  as  I  had  no  time  to 
look  after  them  myself,  I  put  them  under  the  care  of  a 
sailor.  The  mother  bird  and  her  mate  having  a  rare 
talent  for  dancing,  they  often  afforded  the  passengers 
great  amusement,  and  on  the  day  in  question  they  had 
been  figuring  away  beautifully  on  the  upper  deck. 

But  a  first-class  passenger  had  an  ill-tempered  dog,  and 
what  must  the  surly  brute  do,  but  eat  my  five  dear  little 
pigeons?  On  the  fifth  night  of  my  journey,  the  mother, 
the  father,  and  the  three  little  ones,  all  fell  a  prey  to  his 
fangs,  and  only  the  poor  widower,  whose  little  wife  had 
died  of  a  cold  between  Jubbulpore  and  Bombay,  was  left 
to  me.  The  sailor  who  had  charge  of  the  pigeons  was 
not  to  blame  for  their  death.  The  basket  in  which  they 
were  kept  was  at  a  good  height  from  the  deck,  but  the 
horrid  dog  clambered,  bit  through  the  wooden  bars  of 


222  THE  NORTH  STAR 

their  cages,  and  murdered  the  innocent  creatures  in  the 
cruellest  manner.  Some  parrots, — two  belonging  to  me  and 
the  others  to  an  English  lord,  —  were  witnesses  of  the 
horrible  massacre,  and  began  to  scream  piteously,  bringing 
the  sailor  on  watch  to  the  rescue,  who  came  just  in  time 
to  snatch  away  the  last  pigeon  from  the  murderer ;  for 
all  the  others  it  was  too  late.  The  next  morning  nobody 
liked  to  tell  me  what  had  happened,  for  every  one  knew 
how  much  store  I  set  on  my  pretty  dancing  pigeons. 
The  news  was  passed  from  one  to  the  other,  each  de- 
claring that  he  could  not  be  the  one  to  break  it  to  Miss 
Weppner.  At  last  the  doctor  sent  my  faithful  steward,  but 
he  came  into  my  cabin  four  times  before  he  could  screw 
up  courage  to  communicate  the  dreadful  intelligence. 
When  he  came  in  for  the  fifth  time  I  asked  him  if  he  had 
lost  anything,  for  he  looked  into  all  the  corners  in  an 
embarrassed  manner.  "  An  accident  has  happened,"  he 
replied,  with  a  sad  expression, "  and  as  no  one  else  will  tell 
you,  I  must."  I  looked  at  Miss  Cosserat  on  the  sofa,  and 
saw  that  she  was  well,  and  then,  getting  frightened,  I 
said,  ''Are  my  pigeons  dead?"  "Yes,  miss;  only  one  is 
still  alive  ;  a  horrid  dog  has  murdered  all  the  others." 

The  poor  creatures  were  only  pigeons,  but  they  were  so 
beautiful  and  innocent,  that  I  loved  them  dearly,  and  when 
I  heard  of  their  terrible  fate,  I  could  not  refrain  from  tears, 
and  although  I  was  ashamed  of  my  weakness,  my  emotion 
was  not  to  be  conquered.  An  Englishman  on  board  told 
the  doctor  I  must  have  a  very  tender  heart,  and  that  if  I 
had  not  loved  the  pigeons  so  much,  I  should  probably 
not  have  shown  so  much  feeling  and  pity  to  a  poor  suf- 
fering fellow-creature  who  had  no  claim  upon  me. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  228 

The  gentleman  to  whom  the  vicious  dog  belonged  which 
had  killed  my  pigeons,  a  wealthy  English  lord,  was  very 
sorry  indeed,  and  said  he  would  gladly  have  paid  ten  pounds 
if  it  had  been  possible  to  buy  me  some  other  pigeons. 
The  wife  of  an  English  general,  who  had  come  from  the 
North  of  India  with  her  husband,  expressed  the  warmest 
sympathy  for  me  in  my  loss,  and  as  a  small  compensation 
presented  me  with  an  old  snuff-box,  and  another  little  box, 
also  very  old  and  beautifully  painted,  both  of  which  had 
been  given  to  the  general  by  a  native  of  Cashmere.  I  thus 
came  into  possession  of  the  most  ancient  curiosities  of  the 
world ;  for  the  general  told  me  the  snuff-box  had  belonged 
to  Adam  !  and  was  made  of  molten  lava.  The  old  case, 
the  paintings  on  the  lid  of  which  must  now  be  about 
6000  years  old,  was  recognised  by  a  dealer  in  antiquities 
as  Eve's  jewel-box !  On  the  lid  of  this  box  figure  Adam 
and  Eve,  both  with  faces  of  a  Jewish  type,  and  both  with 
long  and  beautiful  hair  falling  from  their  heads  to  their 
feet.  Adam  is  standing  under  an  apple-tree,  and  Eve  is 
seated  on  the  ground,  offering  him  an  apple. 

The  English  general's  wife,  who  gave  me  this  interest- 
ing present,  was  always  very  good  to  me ;  she  called  me 
her  pet,  and  as  she  knew  I  had  very  little  rest  at  night, 
she  often  watched  over  my  poor  protegee  during  the  day, 
and  sent  me  to  enjoy  a  few  hours'  sleep. 

We  passed  the  island  of  Socotra,  connected  in  my  mind 
with  the  legend  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  between  Bombay  and 
Aden.  I  was  told  by  the  officers  that  the  natives  there  are  no 
better  than  savages,  although  they  are  professed  Mahom- 
medans,  and  speak  the  Arabic  language.  We  were  now  in 
the  Arabian  Gulf,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  May  we 


224  THE  NORTH  STAR 

saw  the  distant  mountains  of  the  Arabian  coast.  Miss 
Cosserat  was  asleep,  and  a  kind  passenger  gave  me  some 
information  respecting  the  geography  of  the  surrounding 
districts.  On  our  right  was  the  poetic  land  of  Yemen, 
Arabia  Felix,  the  land  of  light  and  beauty ;  on  the  left 
we  passed  Soumala,  a  portion  of  Africa  stretching  from 
Mozambique  to  Abyssinia,  and  inhabited  by  wild  negro 
aborigines  whom  no  efforts  have  yet  succeeded  in 
civilising. 

In  the  dim  distance  some  passengers  managed  to  make 
out  the  rock  struck  by  Moses  to  obtain  water  for  the  mur- 
muring Israelites.  The  surrounding  country  consists  of 
barren  mountain  peaks  and  sterile  deserted  plains,  without 
a  green  bush  to  be  seen  anywhere. 

We  anchored  in  the  harbour  of  Aden,  where  we  remained 
until  the  next  day.  The  doctor  and  many  of  the  passengers 
advised  me  to  go  on  land  for  a  few  hours.  I  was  very 
much  pulled  down  and  out  of  spirits,  which  was  no  great 
wonder,  being  day  and  night  with  a  lunatic,  and  having  her 
piteous  figure  for  ever  before  me.  My  nerves  were  already 
very  much  shaken,  and  I  was  suffering  a  great  deal  from 
the  breaking  through  of  all  regular  habits  and  from  want 
of  sleep  at  night.  The  doctor  indeed  was  afraid  that  1  was 
going  to  be  ill,  and  he  offered  to  take  charge  of  the  invalid 
for  me,  so  that  I  might  have  a  change  by  going  on  shore. 
The  German  merchant  and  some  English  gentlemen  accom- 
panied me  to  the  town  and  the  fortifications  of  Aden,  and 
pointed  out  to  me  the  celebrated  reservoir  in  the  artificial 
basin  at  the  foot  of  some  mountains.  Aden  is  in  the  12th 
degree  N.  lat,  and  the  heat  is  so  terribly  great  throughout 
the  year  that  the  English  residents  maintain  there  is  only 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  225 

a  paper  partition  wall  between  it  and  the  infernal  regions. 
The  town  itself  stands  on  the  site  of  an  extinct  subterra- 
nean volcano.  The  whole  promontory  to  the  summit  of 
the  highest  mountains  has  evidently  been  subjected  to  the 
action  of  the  subterranean  tire  which  raged  beneath  it 
some  hundreds  of  years  ago.  The  basin  thus  hollowed 
out  by  Nature  is  about  six  miles  in  circumference,  and  the 
lofty  rocks  surrounding  it  rise  to  a  height  of  1500  feet, 
and  are  of  a  glowing  red  colour.  Beneath  the  burning 
sky  of  Aden  Nature  seems  to  have  exhausted  her  own 
creative  power  in  her  violent  volcanic  convulsions.  She 
now  lies,  one  would  think,  motionless  and  dead  —  and 
nothing  springs  from  her  deathlike  bosom. 

Unhappy  country !  comfortless  Aden  !  apparently  for- 
gotten even  by  Heaven,  and  unvisited  sometimes  for 
three  years  at  a  time  by  Jupiter  Pluvius,  the  ungracious 
god,  who,  with  unpardonable  neglect,  heeds  not  the 
cry  of  the  parched  and  thirsty  land  for  his  life-giving 
streams ! 

But  how  do  the  inhabitants  of  this  purgatory  obtain  the 
water  necessary  for  their  existence  ?  The  previous  owners 
of  the  town  excavated  twelve  great  cisterns  in  the  hard 
ground  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  in  which  they  collect 
the  rain  water  from  the  surrounding  circle  of  hills.  And 
there  are  times  when  it  suits  the  humour  of  Jupiter  Plu- 
vius  to  fill  these  cisterns  with  a  sudden  tropical  shower- 
bath.  The  tanks  are  constructed  of  granite,  and  in  spite 
of  their  antiquity,  they  are  in  a  very  good  state  of  pre- 
servation. At  the  time  of  my  visit  there  was  but  a 
small  store  of  water,  and  Heaven  only  knows  when  the  god 
of  rain  will  again  have  pity  on  Aden.  When  the  supply 
VOL.  n.  15 


226  THE  NORTH  STAR 

is  absolutely  exhausted,  the  English  Government  manu- 
facture potable  water  from  sea  water,  which  is  condensed 
by  steam,  and  sold  at  the  modest  price  of  one  penny 
per  gallon,  for  the  use  alike  of  Christians,  Jews,  Turks, 
infidels,  and  natives. 

Aden  is  the  most  miserable  and  unromantic-looking 
spot  I  ever  saw  in  the  whole  world.  Imagine  tropical 
heat,  and  not  a  green  leaf  anywhere !  It  was  evening  when 
we  drove  back  to  the  town  from  the  reservoirs ;  the  ruddy 
hills  were  bathed  in  the  glow  of  the  setting  sun,  and  it 
seemed  to  me  as  if  a  fire  must  be  raging  and  struggling 
within  the  mountains,  so  that  I  almost  expected  to  see  the 
flames  burst  forth  as  from  a  crater.  Pardon  my  remark, 
but  truly,  truly,  O  my  God,  nothing  has  been  wasted  in 
Aden — no  art,  no  beauty,  no  rose  or  nosegay,  nothing  in 
fact  which  could  please  any  lover  of  nature. 

In  this  comfortless  Aden,  I  became  acquainted  with  a 
species  of  humanity  so  very  ugly,  that  to  this  day  I  find 
it  difficult  to  believe  them  to  be  God's  children.  The 
chief  races  represented  there  are  the  Abyssinians  and  the 
Soumalans,  and  it  was  the  latter  that  chiefly  attracted  my 
attention.  They  have  thoroughly  black  skins,  red  woolly 
hair,  vividly  yellow  eyes,  but  snow-white  teeth,  and  well- 
cut  lips.  The  Soumalan  women  are  the  slaves  of  their 
black  lords,  who  in  spite  of  their  rare  ugliness,  are  called 
the  beaux  of  Africa. 

We  had  now  left  the  Eastern  and  Southern  world,  and 
were  on  the  borders  of  the  West  and  North.  With  the 
exception  of  a  few  low-caste  Hindoos  and  several  Parsee 
merchants,  I  saw  no  more  of  the  many  races  I  have  men- 
tioned as  frequenting  Bombay.  No  Mongolian  or  Malay 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  227 

beauties,  or  Confucius,  Tauist,  or  Buddhist  temples,  no 
Siva,  or  Kali,  no  sacred  storks,  cows,  pigs,  or  gorillas. 

I  did  not  hear  a  single  fabulous  name  in  Aden ;  imag- 
ination there,  I  suppose,  was  incapable  of  the  production 
of  a  "  Sakuntala  "  or  "  Kabir."  The  people  of  this  deso- 
late spot  possess  no  hero,  like  the  poet  of  the  "  Mahabhd- 
rata,"  to  sing  the  praise  of  women.  Great  Jupiter  Pluvius, 
I  beseech  thee  give  fresh  water  to  this  desert  land !  for 
as  it  is  the  inhabitants  of  a  purgatory  can  well  dispense 
with  gods  and  goddesses  —  such  an  atmosphere  begets  no 
myths,  and  in  Aden,  as  I  suppose,  fancy  and  love  and  song 
are  alike  unknown. 

The  mercantile  classes  of  this  "  ever  thirsty  "  place  are 
Jews,  Arabs,  and  Turks,  and  there  is  an  English  garrison. 
The  natives  offered  us  ostrich  feathers  and  eggs,  and 
Arabian  straw  baskets,  &c.,  but  they  asked  such  a  high 
price  for  them,  that  they  found  few  purchasers  amongst 
the  passengers  of  the  Golconda. 

The  Soumalans,  like  the  Malays,  are  practised  divers,  and 
exhibited  for  sale  several  branches  of  coral  which  they 
brought  up  fresh  plucked  from  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

Aden  is  the  gate  of  India,  and  is  a  coaling  station  for  all 
vessels  passing  between  England  and  India,  or  vice  versa, 
whether  they  go  vid  the  Ked  Sea  or  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope. 

It  took  us  scarcely  two  hours  to  see  everything  worth 
visiting  in  Aden  and  its  environs,  and  I  returned  to  the 
Golconda  at  sunset.  I  was  met  with  the  news  that  Miss 
Cosserat  had  been  very  troublesome,  but  that  she  was  now 
in  bed  and  asleep,  the  doctor  and  the  general's  wife 
watching  over  her.  It  was  a  long,  a  very  long  night  to 


328  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

me,  for  when  I  went  to  bed  the  invalid  chose  to  get  up, 
and  she  wandered  about  the  steamer  like  a  somnambulist 
until  the  next  morning,  and  I,  like  a  faithful  watch-dog, 
was  constantly  at  her  side.  Since  she  left  Bombay  the 
poor  creature's  condition  had  become  worse,  and  the  doctor 
said  the  sea  air  excited  her  and  was  bad  for  her. 

We  passed  through  the  "  Gate  of  Tears,"  in  the  Straits 
of  Bab-el-Mandeb  with  the  last  gleam  of  the  departing 
moon,  and  we  were  now  in  the  Red  Sea,  with  the  coast  of 
Arabia  on  one  side,  and  that  of  Abyssinia  on  the  other. 

I  had  dreaded  the  passage  through  the  Red  Sea  more  than 
any  other  voyage,  and  for  months  I  had  looked  forward  to 
it  with  shrinking.  The  future  had  now  become  the  present, 
and  it  was  a  great  relief  to  find  everything  just  the  very 
reverse  of  what  I  had  expected.  I  had  frequently  been 
told  in  the  East  that  it  was  dangerous  to  pass  through  the 
Red  Sea  between  March  and  October.  I  had  also  heard 
that  not  rarely  passengers  were  suffocated  by  the  great 
heat,  and  that  to  prevent  deaths  on  board,  and  renew  the 
atmosphere,  vessels  sailing  with  the  wind  had  sometimes 
to  be  steered  against  it.  I  passed  through  the  Red  Sea  in 
the  month  of  May,  but  I  experienced  none  of  the  evils 
foretold,  and  so  far  as  the  actual  voyage  went  it  was  the 
finest  I  had  had.  I  had  no  complaint  to  make  against  the 
sea  itself,  or  the  atmosphere ;  for  the  former  was  smoother 
than  the  Atlantic,  more  peaceful  than  the  Pacific, 
more  beautiful  and  less  unruly  than  the  Yellow  Sea, 
and  even  cooler  than  the  Indian  Ocean.  Moreover, 
the  Red  Sea  is  of  a  beautiful  soft  green  colour,  and 
throughout  our  trip  its  surface  was  merely  broken  into 
gently  gurgling  ripples  by  a  cool  soft  breeze,  and  was  un- 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  229 

troubled  by  waves  or  billows.  The  sea  bottom  is  extremely 
rich  in  beds  of  red  coral,  which  are  very  prejudicial  to 
navigation.  It  is  possible  that  the  Ked  Sea  may  owe  its 
name  to  these  beds  of  coral ;  a  name  perhaps  bestowed  by 
Moses,  Abraham,  Jacob,  or  Esau.  The  natives  of  the 
African  coast  are  still  quite  savage ;  those  of  the  Arabian 
are  said  to  be  half  wild,  so  that  there  is  still  plenty  to  do 
in  the  way  of  civilisation  on  both  sides  of  the  Red  Sea. 

Not  only  was  I  not  suffocated  during  the  passage,  as  I 
had  expected  to  be,  but  I  was  very  comfortable,  and  so  cool 
at  night,  that  I  was  afraid  of  catching  cold,  for  no  amount 
of  persuasion  could  induce  Miss  Cosserat  to  sleep  in  the 
cabin.  At  times  the  lunatic  became  quite  unmanageable, 
and  was  so  obstinate  that  no  one  could  conquer  her ;  but 
after  such  periods  of  exceptionable  violence  she  would  be 
very  quiet,  and  lie  as  still  as  death.  All  the  passengers 
agreed  in  blaming  her  father,  who  must  well  have  known 
her  condition,  for  sending  no  servant  with  her,  for  after 
all  I  was  but  a  feeble  woman,  unequal  to  cope  with  a 
raving  lunatic.  I  was  in  a  state  of  perpetual  dread, 
afraid  of  the  present,  afraid  of  the  future,  unable  to  get 
any  real  refreshment,  even  in  sleep,  for  my  nerves  were 
always  on  the  stretch. 

One  day  Miss  Cosserat  had  a  brief  interval  of  sanity. 
She  was  sitting  on  deck,  with  a  pretty  little  curly-headed 
child  playing  near  her,  when  she  suddenly  asked  for  a 
pencil  and  paper.  They  were  given  to  her  and  she 
rapidly  drew  a  faithful  and  beautiful  portrait  of  the 
child.  Every  one  was  astonished  at  her  skill,  but  she 
had  hardly  finished  the  picture  before  she  tore  it  into 
pieces.  She  had  a  mania  for  destroying  all  which 


230  THE  NORTH  STAR 

came  into  her  hands,  even  her  own  work.  Another  day 
she  embroidered  a  very  beautiful  cross  on  fine  white  silk, 
but  as  soon  as  it  was  done  she  sprang  up  in  a  fury,  and 
flung  it  into  the  sea.  Once,  after  a  dreadful  scene,  she 
got  her  Protestant  prayer-book,  and  prayed  aloud ;  then, 
suddenly,  as  if  seized  with  terror,  she  gave  the  book  to 
me,  threw  herself  upon  her  bed  behind  the  rudder,  and 
appeared  to  be  in  the  greatest  distress.  She  poured  out 
a  bitter  complaint  against  her  father,  in  terms  so  heart- 
rending that  they  brought  the  tears  to  my  eyes :  "  He  never 
loved  us,"  she  moaned ;  "  he  shut  me  up  in  a  convent," 
adding,  in  piteous  tones,  "  Mother,  oh,  mother,  where 
are  you  ? "  Now  she  gazed  fixedly  up  into  the  sky,  now 
she  shut  her  eyes,  and  hid  her  face  in  both  hands.  For 
a  time  she  suffered  terribly,  but  presently  she  became 
sufficiently  calm  to  talk  again  about  her  father,  whom  she 
always  called  the  "  cruel  man,"  and  spoke  of  with  hatred 
and  scorn.  One  day,  she  said,  a  carriage  drove  up  to  her 
father's  door  in  Blankipore,  and  her  father  took  her  to 
the  carriage,  in  which  sat  two  nuns,  who  invited  her  to 
go  for  a  drive.  But  instead  of  that,  they  took  her  to  a 
convent,  and  she  never  saw  her  father's  house  again. 
She  was,  she  added,  "  a  long,  long  time  in  the  convent, 
and  saw  many  terrible  things  there,  but  the  nuns  had 
often  told  her  God  would  never  forgive  her  if  she  betrayed 
those  terrible  things  to  others.  One  day  a  woman  took 
her  out  of  the  convent ;  it  was  in  the  night,  and  the  Lady 
Superior  drove  with  her  and  this  woman  to  the  railway. 
She  saw  neither  her  father,  nor  her  sisters,  nor  her  aunt, 
and  the  woman  brought  her  to  Bombay. 

What  surprised  me  most,  however,  was  that  on  this 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  231 

same  day  Miss  Cosserat  told  me  all  that  had  happened  in 
Consul  Gumpert's  office  at  Bombay.  She  knew  the 
consul's  name,  remembered  all  the  smallest  details  of  the 
day  she  was  there ;  and  she  added,  with  an  angry  look  at 
me,  "  You,  Miss  "Weppner,  you  took  me  back  to  a  con- 
vent, back  to  the  dreadful  Catholics,  who  for  years  have 

tortured  me  with  their religion."  She  then  became 

fearfully  excited,  and  it  was  really  awful  to  listen  to  the 
things  she  said  of  her  father  and  the  nuns  in  her  ungov- 
erned  rage. 

It  appeared  strange  to  me  that  the  poor  lunatic  always 
suddenly  became  silent  when  I  asked  her  any  question 
relating  to  her  mother.  She  would  sigh  deeply,  and  hide 
her  face,  her  only  way  of  expressing  her  evidently  terrible 
suffering,  for  the  poor  creature  could  not  weep,  and  was 
denied  the  solace  of  tears. 

After  the  day  she  told  me  all  that  I  have  said  above, 
she  often  recurred  to  the  same  subject,  and  she  related 
some  very  mysterious  things.  She  entertained  the  most 
intense  hatred  for  her  father,  the  nuns,  and  everything 
which  she  called,  in  an  ironical,  scornful  tone,  "  Roman 
Catholic."  "  Just  think,  Miss  Weppner,"  she  said  once, 
looking  painfully  distressed,  and  wildly  distorting  her  eyes, 
"  how  unjust,  how  absurd,  of  a  Protestant  father  to  poke 
his  children  into  a  Roman  Catholic  convent ! "  She 
often  asked  me  if  she  was  going  back  to  the  convent  at 
Patna,  manifesting  the  greatest  terror  of  all  such  institu- 
tions, whilst  the  mere  mention  of  the  convent  at  Patna, 
of  her  father,  or  of  the  nuns,  excited  the  most  passionate 
anger. 

As  far  as  I  could  gather  from  what  my  patient  said  in 


232  THE  NORTH  STAR 

her  lucid  moments,  she  was  either  born  in  England,  or 
had  at  some  time  or  another  gone  to  England  from  India. 
She  told  me  repeatedly  she  had  been  at  Scarborough,  and 
had  had  a  sea-bath  there  when  she  was  a  little  girl  of  ten 
years  old,  and  she  called  this  time,  spent  at  that  place 
with  an  old  aunt,  the  only  happy  time  in  her  life. 

"When  I  told  her  that  I  would  take  her  to  Cairo  and 
show  her  the  Pyramids,  she  smiled  and  said  that  she  had 
already  seen  them  on  her  journey  from  England  to  India, 
and  that  she  would  be  glad  to  see  Cairo  and  Alexandria 
again.  She  did  not,  however,  know  who  brought  her  to 
India,  nor  did  she  say  anything  of  the  old  grandmother 
mentioned  in  the  Lady  Superior's  (Salesia  Reimer's)  let- 
ter, and  who  Mrs.  Foy  had  told  me  was  a  half-caste  Indian 
woman.  For  all  that,  no  one  who  saw  Miss  Cosserat 
thought  that  she  could  be  of  Anglo-Indian  origin ;  and 
all  the  English  passengers  on  the  Golconda,  for  instance, 
said  she  must  be  of  the  purest  English  blood,  and  that 
was  also  my  opinion.  No  woman  throughout  Europe  has 
a  finer  complexion  than  hers;  her  features,  too,  were 
beautiful ;  she  was  tall,  and  of  dignified  bearing,  and,  in 
spite  of  her  lunacy,  it  was  evident  that  she  had  had  a  very 
superior  education.  Her  movements  and  manners,  when 
she  was  in  a  quiet  mood,  were  refined  and  graceful,  and 
everything  pointed  to  the  conclusion  that  she  was  the 
heroine  of  a  drama  which  had  its  origin  in  an  East  Indian 
convent;  for  as  we  know,  many  an  English  romance, 
sometimes  true  and  sometimes  fiction,  begins,  is  carried 
on,  or  ends  in  the  East  Indies. 

On  the  13th  of  May  we  approached  Suez,  and  we  could 
already  make  out,  although  imperfectly,  the  mountains  of 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  233 

Sinai  and  Moab,  which  have  been  so  celebrated  ever  since 
the  time  of  Moses.  A  chain  of  hills,  of  a  reddish  yellow 
colour,  divides  the  Gulf  of  Suez  from  that  of  Akaba. 
Suez,  like  Aden,  is  a  melancholy  spot,  and  whilst  the 
latter  rises  from  volcanic  rocks,  the  former  is  built  on  a 
grey  and  desolate  sandbank.  No  plant  is  to  be  seen  far  or 
near,  but  only  sterile  ruddy  hills,  contrasting  painfully 
with  the  clear  blue  sky !  What  a  marked  difference 
between  the  Asiatic  and  African  coast ;  how  luxurious  is 
nature  there,  how  poverty-stricken  here  ! 

In  Suez,  a  yet  more  wretched  spot  than  Aden,  it  not 
only  does  not  rain  even  once  every  three  years,  it  never 
rains  at  all !  Jupiter  Pluvius  does  not  know  of  such  a 
place  as  Suez  ;  here  Heaven  sends  down  no  refreshing 
rain,  and  the  desolate,  comfortless  scene,  beneath  the 
scorching  sunbeams,  had  a  depressing  effect  upon  my 
nerves  and  spirits.  Miss  Cosserat,  too,  had  become  very 
weak  and  listless,  and  I  really  did  not  know  how  to  act 
for  the  best.  The  doctor  of  the  Golconda  thought  that 
not  only  the  lunatic  but  I  myself  required  a  few  days'  rest 
and  recreation,  and  I  was  told  that  it  was  still  cool  enough 
in  Cairo  for  the  enjoyment  of  a  few  days'  repose.  We 
had  reached  Suez  towards  evening,  but  my  patient  was 
too  excited  and  irritable  for  me  to  venture  to  avail  myself 
of  the  night  train  to  Cairo,  which  is  one  hundred  and 
thirty  miles,  or  seven  hours'  distant  from  Suez.  I  decided 
to  spend  two  or  three  days  with  Miss  Cosserat  in  the 
former  city,  and  whilst  there  to  obtain  the  advice  of  an 
experienced  European  physician. 


234  TEE  NORTH  STAR 


CEAPTEE,  Y. 

ATX  was  now  life  and  motion  on  board  the  Golconda,  and 
at  seven  o'clock  the  passengers,  several  hundred  in  num- 
ber, started  by  special  train  for  Alexandria;  some 
going  from  there  via  Brindisi,  others  via  Trieste,  to 
different  countries  of  Europe.  Most  of  them,  however, 
were  bound  for  England.  I  was  the  only  person  without 
a  through  ticket,  as  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental  Company 
of  Bombay,  not  knowing  how  things  would  be  with 
the  lunatic  when  she  reached  Suez,  had  refused  to 
give  me  tickets  to  take  us  any  farther  than  that  town. 
It  was  very  uncertain  how  I  was  to  proceed  on  my 
journey,  and  this  uncertainty  caused  me  the  greatest 
anxiety.  I  hoped,  however,  that  the  journey  by  land,  and 
the  pleasant  distractions  I  intended  to  provide  for  Miss 
Cosserat  might  have  a  favourable  effect  upon  her  condition, 
and  I  comforted  myself  with  the  thought  that  I  should 
have  no  difficulty  in  securing  a  passage  to  Trieste  from 
Alexandria.  The  captain  of  the  Golconda  was  very  good 
to  me  to  the  last  moment,  and  allowed  me  to  pass  the 
night  on  board,  that  I  might  be  spared  the  difficult  task 
of  transferring  Miss  Cosserat  to  a  hotel  in  Suez.  I  shaU 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  235 

never  forget  the  painful  attitude  of  my  poor  protegee, 
when  all  passengers  left  the  Golconda;  she  took  my  hand, 
saying,  in  a  lamenting  tone,  "  Miss  Weppner,  have  all 
friends  forsaken  us  ? "  The  next  morning  two  English 
gentlemen,  who  had  come  to  Suez  from  India  as  agents 
of  the  government  there,  and  were  returning  on  the 
Golconda,  accompanied  me  to  the  railway  station  in 
Suez.  It  took  me  two  honrs  to  wash  my  patient  and 
dress  her  properly ;  indeed,  the  lady  passengers  on  the 
Golconda  had  said  that  it  would  be  easier  to  dress  twelve 
babies  than  one  Miss  Cosserat,  for  with  a  baby  one  can 
do  as  one  likes,  but  with  a  lunatic  one  must  do  what  one 
can  and  what  she  chooses.  As  usual,  one  stocking  was 
not  to  be  got  on,  but  was  held  in  the  right  hand,  she 
persisting  in  saying  that  this  was  the  latest  Paris  fashion. 
Since  we  left  Bombay  she  had  not  once  put  on  or  taken 
off  her  boots  herself,  I  always  had  to  do  so  for  her ;  and 
how  I  fared  during  the  operation  was  witnessed  by  my 
scratched  face  and  hands,  black  and  blue  from  kicks. 

I  gave  the  steward,  who  had  served  me  so  faithfully,  a 
gratuity,  which,  had  my  purse  permitted  it,  I  would  gladly 
have  doubled;  but  I  had  no  reserve  fund  for  incidental 
expenses,  and  was  obliged  to  economise  my  resources. 

With  a  sinking  heart  I  left  the  Golconda  and  stepped 
into  a  boat  with  Miss  Cosserat,  who  carried  her  Prayer 
Book  in  one  hand,  and  her  stocking  and  a  little  travelling 
bundle  in  the  other.  She  was  not  dressed  as  I  could 
have  wished,  and  I  felt  ashamed  of  her,  but  the  kind  and 
sympathising  Englishmen  tried  to  console  me  by  saying 
I  had  done  all  in  the  power  of  patience,  and  that  I  could 
iiot  accomplish  impossibilities.  On  our  way  to  Suez,  my 


236  THE  NORTH  STAR 

companions  pointed  out  to  me  a  portion  of  the  Suez  Canal, 
the  great  work  of  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps. 

When  we  landed,  we  heard  that  a  train  would  start  for 
Cairo  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  What  must  Miss  Cosserat 
do?  Regardless  of  the  scorching  heat  of  the  sun,  she 
stood  wildly  laughing  in  the  middle  of  the  road,  declaring, 
she  would  not  go  a  step  farther,  and  to  get  her  to  the 
station,  we  were  compelled  to  use  force,  all  other  means 
having  failed. 

Meanwhile,  a  large  crowd  had  collected,  which  followed 
us  to  the  railway  carriage.  This  public  exposure,  before 
curious  bystanders,  was  exceedingly  painful,  as  I  was  the 
object  of  every  one's  attention,  as  well  as  the  poor  lunatic. 
But  how  often  I  had  to  go  through  a  similar  experience, 
which  was  far  worse  in  reality  than  it  had  been  in  antici- 
pation !  so  that  positively  herculean  strength  of  mind  was 
required  to  preserve  equanimity  and  patience.  The  two 
friendly  gentlemen  had  hardly  taken  our  tickets,  and  seen 
after  our  luggage,  before  the  train  was  in  motion,  and  I  was 
obliged  to  leave  my  one  pigeon  and  my  parrots  behind 
me.  The  parrot,  I  had  taken  out  of  the  nest  at  Allahabad 
and  brought  up  myself,  was  now  a  well-grown  bird,  and 
beginning  to  speak  German,  whilst  another,  which  I  had 
bought  of  a  Hindu  sailor,  spoke  Hindustani.  The  one 
remaining  dancing  pigeon  was  to  be  a  present  for  my 
mother,  and  the  parrots  were  to  be  given  to  my  brother. 
The  gentlemen  who  saw  me  off.  were  kind  enough  to  take 
charge  of  my  little  aviary  at  Suez,  and  to  forward  the 
little  company  to  Alexandria,  and  I  found  them  in  good 
condition  on  my  arrival  in  the  latter  town.  There  were 
several  French  gentlemen  in  the  carriage  with  us,  who 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  237 

were  so  good  as  to  get  me  some  soup  and  meat  at  an  inter- 
mediate station.  Miss  C.,  however,  would  take  nothing ; 
throughout  the  whole  journey  she  lay  with  her  head  on 
my  shoulder,  and  my  right  hand  clasped  tightly  in  hers, 
so  that  it  was  only  with  the  help  of  others  that  I  could 
get  anything  to  eat  myself. 

Fifty  miles  from  Suez,  we  passed  Ismailia,  the  finest 
town  of  the  Arabian  desert.  It  was  here  that  Ferdinand 
de  Lesseps  began  the  first  works  of  the  Suez  Canal  in 
1859,  and  his  was  the  first  house  erected  in  Ismailia.  In 
the  course  of  about  seven  years  a  French  town  of  15,000 
inhabitants  gathered  round  it,  containing  many  fine  build- 
ings, and  wide,  well-kept  streets  and  thoroughfares.  The 
city,  with  its  splendid  green  gardens,  presents  a  most  im- 
posing appearance,  contrasting  favourably  with  the  white 
wastes  of  sand  on  every  side.  It  was  here  that  the  Khe- 
dive Ismail  Pasha  erected  a  stately  palace  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  royalty  and  nobility  of  Europe,  invited  by 
him  to  the  fete  in  celebration  of  the  opening  of  Lesseps' 
great  work.  Here,  too,  the  Empress  Eugenie  picked  the 
last  roses  that  bloomed  for  her  upon  the  throne  of  France, 
for  it  was  in  Egypt  that  she  enjoyed  the  last  and  greatest 
triumph  accorded  to  her  during  Napoleon's  smiling  period 
of  power. 

When  I  arrived  hi  Cairo  I  was  sorely  annoyed ;  for, 
throughout  the  whole  of  the  East,  there  is  no  race  so  wild, 
and  rough  as  the  Arabs.  The  lower  classes  of  Japan, 
China,  the  Malay  Archipelago,  and  India,  are  tender  lambs 
and  polished  gentlemen  compared  to  the  lower  classes  of 
Arabia,  who  are  wolves  and  churls,  without  the  slightest 
notion  of  the  respect  due  to  women,  and  by  no  Asiatics 


238  THE  NORTII  STAR 

had  I  been  so  insolently  treated  as  I  was  by  the  Arabs  at 
every  turn. 

There  were  a  good  many  Arabian  coachmen  waiting  at 
the  station  with  their  carriages,  and  I  had  hardly  got  out 
of  the  train  with  Miss  Cosserat,  before  one  man  seized  one 
thing,  and  another  seized  another  of  my  effects,  and  ran 
off  with  them  to  their  different  carriages,  so  as  to  secure 
the  job  of  driving  me  to  town.  Soon  all  my  small  pos- 
sessions were  scattered  about,  and  Miss  Cosserat  was  so 
weak  that  I  could  not  leave  her.  What  was  to  be  done  ? 
Fortunately  the  kind-hearted  French  gentlemen  had  not 
forgotten  me ;  and  when  they  had  seen  after  their  own 
luggage,  they  returned  to  the  platform,  and  asked  what 
they  could  do  for  me.  I  told  them,  with  tears,  in  how 
savage  a  fashion  the  Arabs  had  taken  everything  from 
me ;  and,  to  get  my  property  back,  my  kind  friends  had 
to  use  their  sticks.  Then  the  coachmen  all  came,  and 
demanded  baksheesh,  but,  instead  of  it,  the  gentlemen 
administered  a  second  dose  of  blows,  which  they  took 
without  resistance.  The  street  Arabs,  all  of  whom  behave 
in  the  same  impudent  manner,  are  as  accustomed  to  blows 
as  to  breathing  fresh  air. 

With  the  help  of  the  French  gentlemen,  I  was  soon 
seated  with  my  charge  in  an  easy  open  carriage,  and  the 
coachman  was  ordered  to  drive  me  to  the  German 
consulate.  But  no  good  fortune  awaited  me  there ;  the 
consul  himself,  to  whom  I  was  officially  recommended  by 
Mr.  Gumpert,  of  Bombay,  was  not  at  home.  I  sent  a 
letter  into  the  consulate  by  the  coachman,  as  I  could  not 
go  myself,  Miss  Cosserat  being  asleep  with  her  head  on 
my  lap.  Presently,  a  young  gentleman,  with  a  hard  ill- 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  239 

favoured  countenance,  a  certain  Mr.  Yon  Schimmelpfen- 
nig,  who  was  the  consul's  deputy,  came  to  the  carriage  and 
asked  me  in  a  haughty,  insolent  tone,  what  I  wanted  with 
him.  I  replied  that  I  had  a  poor  lunatic  under  my  care 
who  required  medical  aid,  and  I  begged  him  to  tell  me  of 
an  English  or  German  doctor,  whom  I  could  consult,  and 
from  whom  I  could  hear  of  a  suitable  place  where  the 
invalid  could  be  received  for  three  or  four  days.  The 
haughty  Mr.  Yon  Schimmelpfennig  then  inquired  if  the 
young  lady  was  German,  and,  on  my  saying  that  she  was 
English,  he  added  roughly,  "  I  owe  nothing  to  her  then ; 
you,  only,  are  recommended  to  me,  and  what  you  demand 
of  me  is  not  for  your  service ! "  He  then  cast  an  im- 
pertinent glance  upon  the  poor  invalid,  and  said,  in  a 
contemptuous  tone,  "  This  apparent  fool,  as  I  think  I  can 
see,  is  a  gentle  impostor  of  the  fair  sex."  "  What  did  you 
say  ? "  1  exclaimed  indignantly.  "  She  is  an  impostor," 
he  repeated,  with  a  satirical  smile,  "  and  you  are  probably 
the  same. "  For  the  moment  I  scarcely  knew  where  I  was, 
for  since  the  days  of  the  little  German  king  in  the  North 
of  China,  I  had  never  heard  the  epithet  of  impostor 
applied  to  me,  and  the  scoff  at  my  poor  unfortunate 
protegee,  who  was  more  like  a  corpse  than  a  living  being, 
cut  me  to  the  quick.  I  made  no.  secret  of  my  scorn  of  my 
high-born  countryman,  who  in  spite  of  the  aristocratic 
"  von  "  in  his  name  was  far  from  being  a  gentleman,  and 
I  told  him,  in  the  plainest  German,  what  I  took  "his 
grace"  to  be.  Meanwhile  a  gentleman,  who  likewise 
belonged  to  the  Prussian  consulate  at  Cairo,  approached 
the  carriage.  He  had  a  kind  and  sympathetic  expression, 
and  he  looked  at  me  and  the  sleeping  invalid  in  a  friendly 


340  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

manner.  "  I  am,  I  said  to  him,  "  recommended  by  the 
Prussian  consul  in  Bombay,  to  the  Prussian  consul  in 
Cairo,  and  this  young  gentleman  dares  to  call  me  and  this 
poor  creature,  impostors.  In  the  name  of  humanity,"  I 
added,  weeping,  "  I  entreat  your  pity  and  your  protection." 
The  gentleman  I  appealed  to  remonstrated  with  his  col- 
league, and  both  became  very  angry  with  one  another. 
"  You  have  no  humanity  whatever,"  said  my  champion  to 
the  high-born  Teuton,  "  and  chivalry  you  never  knew  and 
never  will  know.  You  are  an  ill-mannered,  unfeeling  man. 
How  do  you  suppose  these  ladies  wish  to  impose  upon 
you  ?  what  could  be  more  genuine  than  the  touching 
pleading  of  the  one,  and  the  suffering  form  of  the  other  ? 
Dry  your  tears,  madam,"  he  added  to  me ;  "  I  will  be- 
friend yon." 

•  The  first  "gentleman,"  the  one  who  had  spoken  so 
insolently  to  me,  was  a  young  diplomatist  from  Berlin ; 
but  the  second  was  an  Austrian,  in  the  service  of  the 
Prussian  consulate  at  Cairo.  The  high-born  donkey,  I 
really  can  call  him  nothing  else,  now  left  me,  with  an 
angry,  surly  face,  whilst  the  Austrian  gentleman  went 
into  a  neighbouring  building,  returning,  in  a  few 
moments,  accompanied  by  the  English  consul.  I  described 
the  dreadful  condition  of  my  patient  to  the  last-named 
gentleman,  and  showed  him  my  letter  of  authority,  and  the 
certificate  of  the  doctor  at  Patna.  However,  he  read  neither 
the  one  nor  the  other,  but  said  I  had  been  recommended 
under  the  seal  of  the  German  consul  at  Bombay  to  his 
colleague  at  Cairo,  and  he  had  full  confidence  in  me,  and 
much  regretted  that  Mr.  Yon  Schimmelpfennig  had 
insulted  me.  After  he  had  taken  counsel  with  the 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  241 

Austrian  gentleman  as  to  what  had  better  be  done,  the 
latter  got  into  the  carriage  with  me  and  accompanied  me 
to  the  French  hospital.  There  he  spoke  to  the  matron, 
and  asked  for  a  first-class  room  for  the  invalid.  That 
lady  told  me  it  was  not  necessary  for  me  to  stay  with  my 
patient,  and  my  companion  also  thought  it  would  be 
better  for  me  to  be  relieved  of  the  invalid  for  a  few 
days  and  to  leave  my  protegee  under  the  charge  of 
the  sisters  of  the  hospital.  He  added  that  he  would 
take  me  to  an  Austrian  family,  where  I  should  find  better 
recreation  than  in  the  company  of  a  lunatic.  I  insisted, 
however,  on  remaining  in  the  hospital,  and  not  leaving 
Miss  Cosserat,  for  I  thought  it  wrong  to  do  so  without 
a  serious  cause.  The  kind  gentleman  therefore  left  me, 
saying  he  should  inquire  the  next  day  after  me  and  the 
invalid. 

As  Miss  Cosserat  refused  to  go  up  the  stairs  of  the 
hospital,  a  male  attendant  was  called  who  carried  her  into 
a  room,  where  she  lay  herself  down  on  the  stone  floor. 
It  was  absolutely  impossible  to  undress  her,  and  it  was 
only  after  the  greatest  trouble  that  we  got  her  into  bed. 
She  would  eat  nothing,,  and,  as  it  .was  thirty-six  hours 
since  she  had  taken  any  food,  I  was  afraid  she  would  die 
of  exhaustion. 

In  the  evening  the  doctor  came,  but  the  patient  would 
not  see  him,  and  when  he  took  her  hand,  she  struck  him 
violently  in  the  face,  and  behaved  in  the  wildest  manner. 
Her  rage  became  so  ungovernable,  that  the  doctor  had  to 
leave  without  getting  the  very  slightest  satisfaction  out 
of  his  visit.  It  is  true  he  sent  her  some  medicine  and 
ordered  her  a  bath,  but  she  took  neither  the  one  nor  the 
VOL.  n.  16 


242  THE  NORTH  STAR 

other.  She  treated  me,  and  the  man  who  was  to  carry 
her  to  the  bath,  so  shamefully,  that  we  gave  up  the 
arduous  task.  In  the  night  her  imagination  was 
haunted  by  the  most  terrible  visions,  and  she  screamed 
and  groaned  in  a  dreadful  manner.  Several  times,  when 
I  did  close  my  eyes,  she  came  to  me  with  heartrending 
lamentations,  and  pointed  to  the  menacing  spirits  which 
were  following  her.  I  got  up  and  tried  to  convince  her 
that  there  were  no  spirits  where  she  pointed,  but  she 
would  not  believe  it,  and  squeezed  herself  close  to  me, 
trembling  in  every  limb.  I  was  quite  exhausted  with 
talking  to  her,  and  trying  to  calm  her,  and,  in  the  morning 
I  was  hoarse  and  felt  very  unwell.  A  hot  wind,  such  as  is 
of  frequent  occurrence  at  this  time  of  year  in  Egypt, 
was  blowing  over  Cairo,  and  the  atmosphere  was  heavy 
and  oppressive. 

Although  I  paid  first-class  terms  for  myself  and  the 
invalid,  and  looked  after  the  latter  myself,  which  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  sisters  to  do,  not  once  had  any  one  the 
kindness  and  consideration  to  relieve  me  at  night,  so  that 
I  might  get  a  little  rest.  A  French  sister,  whom  the 
matron  had  appointed  to  wait  on  Miss  Cosserat,  came  in 
and  out  of  the  room,  but  she  did  nothing,  and  all  the 
trouble  was  left  to  me.  The  fact  was  the  sister  had 
become  too  much  accustomed  to  pain  and  suffering,  and 
she  treated  the  invalid  in  a  business-like,  indifferent,  and 
peremptory  manner,  which  proved  that  she  had  lost  all 
womanly  tenderness  in  the  routine  of  her  calling.  She, 
evidently,  no  longer  knew  the  meaning  of  tender  tones 
of  pity,  or  the  soft  language  of  a  sympathetic  heart. 
It  was  painful  to  me  to  witness  her  unfeeling  superficial 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  243 

mode  of  treating  the  invalid,  for  whom  she  cared  no  more 
than  for  the  beads  of  her  rosary,  as  was  shown  by  the 
nervous  impatience  with  which  she  sprinkled  the  bed 
and  the  room  with  holy  water  and  then  ran  away.  In 
nothing  that  she  did,  did  she  show  any  feeling,  heart,  or 
dignity ;  work  and  prayer  were  alike  mechanical. 

The  doctor,  a  Frenchman  from  Paris,  showed  me  much 
kindness,  and  had  the  greatest  patience  with  the  invalid. 
He  came  twice  every  day,  and  seeing  that  I  was  sad  and 
out  of  spirits,  he  amused  me  with  interesting  and  witty 
anecdotes.  He  also  gave  me  an  exciting  book  to  read, 
and  told  me  to  divert  my  thoughts,  as  much  as  possible, 
from  the  contemplation  of  the  miserable  lunatic. 

It  was  so  cool  on  the  third  day  that,  by  the  doctor's 
advice,  I  took  my  charge  into  the  open  air.  The  Austrian 
gentleman,  alluded  to  above,  was  a  friend  of  the  Austrian 
consul,  and  in  compliance  with  the  orders  of  the  latter  the 
dragoman  of  the  consulate,  an  Arab,  accompanied  me.  I 
had  a  comfortable  couch  prepared  for  the  invalid  in  a 
large  open  carriage,  and  we  drove  together  to  the  pyramids 
at  Gizeh.  A  fine  road,  planted  with  shady  trees,  which 
the  Khedive  had  built  in  honour  of  the  Empress  Eug6nie 
at  the  time  of  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal,  leads  through 
the  valley  of  the  JSTile  to  the  foot  of  the  pyramids.  For 
level  roads  to  be  made,  royal  travellers  are  necessary  ;  for 
ordinary  mortals,  no  wharf  is  built,  such  as  that  erected 
for  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh  on  the  island  of  Elephanta,  and 
no  road  is  laid  down  such  as  that  made  from  Cairo  to  the 
pyramids  for  the  Empress  Eugenie.  However  the  wharf 
and  road  constructed  for  a  prince  of  royal  blood,  and  for  the 
ex-Empress  of  the  French,  are  now  the  common  property 


244  THE  NORTH  STAR 

of  all  pilgrims,  whether  of  high  or  low  degree,  who  visit 
the  Caves  of  Elephanta,  in  India,  and  the  pyramids  at 
Gizeh.  I  tried  to  call  the  attention  of  the  invalid  to 
this  gigantic  work,  and  spoke  to  her  of  the  beautiful 
Sphynx  she  would  soon  see,  but  she  took  no  notice  of 
anything  I  said.  Our  carriage  now  stopped  before  the 
great  pyramids  of  Gizeh,  but  as  soon  as  I  pointed  them  out 
to  Miss  Cosserat,  she  covered  her  eyes  with  both  hands, 
and  not  once  did  she  look  up  at  them,  saying,  they 
were  a  cold  mass  of  stone,  impeding  the  air.  I  too,  I 
must  confess,  could  not  see  much  to  admire  in  this  im- 
posing building ;  and,  although  it  is  a  colossal  work,  it 
cannot  be  called  beautiful.  It  is  as  I  thought  a  useless, 
monotonous  pile  of  stones,  and  that  is  all.  I  did  not  go 
into  the  royal  chamber  inside  the  pyramid,  for  it  contains 
nothing  worth  seeing  in  the  way  of  idols  or  relics.  I 
admired  the  second  and  smaller  pyramid  and  the  beautiful 
Sphynx  more  than  the  first  and  great  pyramid.  Long  did 
I  gaze  up  at  the  colossal  image,  whose  features  are  so  old 
and  so  unfathomable,  yet  so  expressive  and  so  noble. 
But  all  record  of  this  beautiful  Sphynx  is  lost  in  the  mists 
of  the  past,  and  the  history  of  the  world  reveals  nothing 
of  her  origin,  or  of  her  meaning.  The  Sphynx  is  sixty 
feet  high,  the  head  alone  being  twelve  feet,  and  the  nose 
four  feet  long,  whilst  the  mouth  is  two  feet  across.  The 
face  and  nose  are  a  good  deal  injured,  and  the  features 
can  no  longer  be  distinctly  made  out. 

The  surrounding  districts  of  both  monuments  are 
desolate  and  barren ;  nothing  but  sand,  sand  everywhere. 
If  I  am  not  mistaken,  the  great  pyramids  of  Cheops  are 
six  miles  from  those  at  Gizeh,  but  I  did  not  care  to  go 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CR088.  345 

and  see  them,  for,  as  yet,  no  royal  or  imperial  road  leads 
to  them.  As  we  were  driving  back  by  the  Nile  to  the 
European  convent,  poor  Miss  Cosserat  suddenly  remem- 
bered a  time  gone  by,  for  she  pointed  to  the  river  and  said 
she  had  seen  the  Nile  on  her  journey  to  India. 

The  drive  in  the  pure  air  did  the  invalid  good.  She  ate 
a  hearty  dinner,  and  slept  much  better  the  night  after 
than  she  had  done  before.  This  happy  result  of  our  first 
excursion  induced  me  to  make  another  attempt  the  next 
day ;  my  Arabian  escort  came  to  fetch  us  early  in  the 
morning,  and  we  drove  to  the  site  of  "  On,"  called  Beth- 
shemeh  (Heliopolis),  ten  miles  north-east  of  Cairo.  I 
did  not  see  much  of  interest  on  our  drive,  except  an  obelisk 
of  red  granite,  sixty-eight  feet  high,  the  hieroglyphical 
inscription  on  which  gives  the  date  2080  B.  c.  Ancient 
ruins  are  scattered  round  about  the  obelisk,  but  whether 
they  are  the  remains  of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun,  or  of  the 
city  of  Heliopolis,  my  escort  could  not  tell  me.  I  told 
Miss  Cosserat  that  it  was  here  that  St.  Joseph  found  his 
wife  Mary ;  here  that  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  once  stood, 
and  where  Jeremiah  had  prophesied,  and  that  Plato  had 
lived  here,  but  she  replied  brusquely  that  she  had  read  all 
that  and  knew  it  as  well  as  I  did.  My  escort  was  a  Coptic 
Christian,  and  therefore  a  member  of  the  most  primitive 
Christian  sect,  for  the  creed  of  the  Copts  dates  from  the 
first  century  of  our  era,  and  its  professors  endured  the 
most  terrible  persecutions  under  Diocletian,  many  of 
them  suffering  martyrdom.  Although  the  Coptic  sect  is 
gradually  becoming  extinct  in  the  rest  of  Christendom, 
there  are  still,  as  my  escort  informed  me,  140,000  Copts 
in  Egypt. 


246  THE  NORTH  STAR 

On  our  way  back  to  Cairo,  the  good  dragoman  took  us 
into  the  so-called  Mataria  Garden,  which,  according  to 
Coptic  tradition,  was  the  temporary  shelter  of  Mary  and 
Joseph  and  the  child  Jesus,  when  Herod's  cruel  edict  drove 
them  from  Bethlehem  to  Egypt.  Our  escort  pointed  out 
the  tree  beneath  the  shady  branches  of  which  the  Holy 
Family  rested,  and  a  stream  at  the  entrance  of  the  garden 
in  which  the  Yirgin  washed  the  swaddling  clothes  of  the 
Infant  Christ. 

No  one  will  be  disposed  to  question  the  generosity  of  the 
Khedive,  after  hearing  that  he  presented  the  Empress 
Eugenie  with  the  tree  beneath  which  the  Holy  Family 
rested,  and  the  moral  value  of  which  is  incalculable. 

In  the  Mataria  Garden  there  is  a  small  thicket  of  lemon 
bushes,  which  yield  a  small  prettily-shaped  fruit,  exactly 
resembling  the  lemons  of  Goa  in  India. 

As  we  drove  back  from  Mataria  to  Cairo,  we  passed  whole 
troops  of  pilgrims  from  Mecca,  making  for  the  gate,  and 
when  we  approached  the  town,  we  found  preparations  being 
made  for  the  reception  of  the  Princess  Yalide,  the  mother 
of  the  Khedive,  Ismail  Pasha,  who,  in  accordance  with  an 
old  Egyptian  custom,  salutes  the  pilgrims  on  their  return 
from  Mecca. 

The  encampment  of  the  pilgrims  extended  for  miles 
beyond  the  gates  of  the  town ;  weary  camels  were  resting 
on  the  ground,  and  the  confusion  incident  to  the  constant 
arrival  of  fresh  parties  of  dirty  men  and  animals  was 
accompanied  by  whirlwinds  of  dust  and  sand. 

The  effect  of  the  whole  was  that  of  a  scattered  military 
encampment,  and  there  were  no  outward  signs  of  the  piety 
of  pilgrims  returning  home.  Miss  Cosserat  plainly  ex- 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  24? 

pressed  her  aversion  of  them,  and  said  the  "  Mecca  pil- 
grims were  very  dirty  gentlemen." 

Sometimes  I  thought  the  poor  creature  was  roused  from 
her  intellectual  lethargy  ;  but,  alas !  I  was  always  disap- 
pointed ;  it  was  merely  for  a  few  moments  that  a  faint 
glimmer  of  reason  lit  up  her  disordered  mind,  which  was 
soon  wandering  again  in  the  dark  realms  of  insanity. 

The  night  after  our  second  excursion,  and  the  following 
day,  she  was  in  a  desperate  plight,  and  went  about  our 
room  in  "  nature's  dress,"  lamenting  bitterly.  When  I 
tried  to  put  something  round  her  she  flew  into  a  terrible 
passion,  and  I  was  in  so  much  danger  from  her,  that  I 
screamed  for  help.  Fortunately  the  doctor  of  the  hospital 
was  close  at  hand,  his  thundering  voice  terrified  her,  and 
she  ran  and  hid  herself  in  bed,  none  of  us  venturing  to 
approach  her. 

Of  course  it  was  impossible  to  take  Miss  Cosserat  out  on 
the  day  in  question,  but  the  doctor  wished  me  to  have  some 
fresh  air.  I  complained  to  him  that  neither  the  matron 
nor  any  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  had  given  me  the  slightest 
assistance,  and  that,  in  spite  of  the  liberal  terms  I  was 
paying  for  the  invalid,  I  had  to  look  after  her  day  and 
night,  no  one  seeming  to  think  that  I  was  tired  and  re- 
quired rest.  Thereupon  the  doctor  sent  for  the  sister  who 
had  the  attendance  of  our  room,  and  asked  her  if  she  could 
not,  or  would  not,  see  that  I  was  exhausted,  adding  that 
she  was  treating  me  badly,  and  he  reminded  her  of  her 
duty.  She  seemed  to  feel  that  the  doctor  was  right,  looked 
ashamed  of  herself,  and,  for  that  day  at  least,  she  partially 
fulfilled  her  duty. 

My  Arab  escort  then  came  and  took  me  to  the  citadel. 


348  THE  NORTH  STAR 

and  to  several  of  the  most  celebrated  mosques  of  Cairo. 
The  citadel,  which  rises  to  a  height  of  300  feet  above  the 
sea  level,  commands  an  extremely  fine  view,  and  from  it  I 
overlooked  the  whole  city,  and  could  see  the  pyramids  of 
'jrizeh  in  the  distance,  and  trace  the  course  of  the  Nile 
down  to  Memphis. 

The  city  of  Cairo  contains  many  imposing  buildings, 
the  effect  of  which,  built  as  they  are  on  gentle  declivities, 
is  very  imposing,  and  has  earned  for  Cairo  the  rank  of  one 
of  the  finest  of  modern  cities. 

Cairo  contains  300  mosques,  and  the  splendid  tombs  of 
the  Mamelukes  are  among  its  finest  buildings.  They  are 
mostly  built  of  white  marble,  adorned  with  oil  paintings. 
The  monuments  to  women  are  covered  with  a  sculptured 
marble  veil,  and  the  sign  of  the  tomb  of  a  man  is  a 
"  tarboosh  "  at  the  head  of  the  coffin. 

In  the  museum  of  Cairo  I  was  particularly  struck  with  the 
numerous  mummies.  I  bought  a  few  small  specimens  and 
various  primitive  coins  of  the  dirty  street  boys,  who  follow 
strangers  about  with  the  most  pertinacious  impudence. 

My  escort,  the  faithful  Copt,  took  me  to  the  Coptic 
convent  of  St.  George,  part  of  which  is  very  old,  much 
older,  of  course,  than  the  beautiful  modern  city  of  Cairo. 
In  the  old  portion  there  is  a  cave  which  serves  as  a 
Christian  place  of  worship,  and  in  which  Coptic  Christians 
believe  Mary,  Joseph,  and  the  Infant  Jesus  lived  during 
their  exile  in  Egypt.  My  guide  pointed  out  to  me  certain 
ancient  paintings  and  sculptures,  representing  the  birth 
of  the  Saviour,  and  the  stay  of  the  Holy  Family  in  the 
cave.  This  grotto  is  divided  into  three  parts,  in  the  first  of 
which  is  the  baptismal  font  of  the  Copts,  whilst  in  each 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  249 

of  the  other  two  parts  are  to  be  seen  three  footprints  of 
the  Redeemer. 

The  tombs  of  the  Caliphs,  which  are  very  numerous, 
although  I  only  saw  one,  are  outside  the  gate  of  Triumph 
called  Bab-el-Nini ;  and  I  may  add  that  the  last  resting 
places  of  the  Mohammedan  rulers,  and  the  old  Mamelukes, 
are  equally  neglected  and  ruinous. 

Cheops,  Sesostris,  and  others  as  great  as  they  repose  in 
no  romantic  spot.  From  their  gloomy  death- chambers, 
these  great  ones  of  the  past  look  forth  upon  nothing  but  a 
deserted  wilderness  of  sand.  I  do  not  envy  these  princes 
their  last  homes,  and  it  is  my  hope  that  I  may  sleep  in 
the  peaceful  cemetery  of  the  romantic  valley  of  my  native 
Rhine,  where  my  slumbers  will  be  sweeter  than  those  of  a 
Cheops  or  Sesostris  in  the  dreary  desert  of  Egypt. 

On  the  evening  of  the  fifth  day,  to  my  great  dismay,  I 
heard  and  saw  that  small-pox  was  raging  in  the  hospital. 
The  patients  occupying  the  rooms  on  either  side  of  mine 
had  it,  and,  what  was  more,  I  was  separated  from  the 
next  room  by  a  tapestry  partition  only,  which  extended 
but  half-way  up  to  the  ceiling.  Without  knowing  it,  poor 
Miss  Cosserat  and  I  had  already  been  five  days  exposed  to 
the  atmosphere  and  noxious  exhalations  of  the  dangerous 
disease  of  small-pox,  and  it  was  by  a  mere  accident  that  I 
found  it  out.  Miss  Cosserat  had  been  wandering  about 
the  long  corridor  of  the  hospital,  as  was  her  wont,  and 
she  went  into  the  room  next  door  to  mine  on  the  right. 
I  followed  her  to  get  her  back,  and  the  behaviour  of  the 
sister  in  charge  awoke  my  suspicions,  for  she  placed 
herself  before  me  to  prevent  my  seeing  where  my  charge 
was.  I  approached  nearer,  however,  and  saw  Miss 


250  THE  NORTH  STAR 

Cosserat  sitting  on  a  bed,  in  which  lay  a  sick  woman,  of 
the  nature  of  whose  disease  there  could  not  be  the  slightest 
doubt.  I  was  terrified  and  disgusted,  and  hurrying  back 
to  my  room,  I  was  taken  sick  and  vomited.  I  had  now 
the  greatest  fear  that  I  should  catch  the  small-pox,  and  I 
blamed  the  matron  and  doctor  for  having  told  me  nothing 
of  the  presence  of  this  disease.  The  doctor,  who  was 
well  aware  of  what  would  be  the  probable  result  of  my 
horror  and  dread,  asked  me  if  I  had  been  vaccinated. 
Fortunately  I  had  had  the  operation  performed  seven 
months  before  in  Shanghai,  and  the  doctor  comforted  me 
by  telling  me  that  there  was  no  fear  of  my  taking  the 
complaint.  I  had  the  pleasure,  however,  of  being  com- 
pelled to  take  a  strong  emetic,  &c.,  and  Miss  Cosserat, 
noticing  how  sick  I  was  in  the  night,  advised  me  to  die, 
and  become  a  beautiful  angel  in  heaven,  adding  that 
when  I  was  dead  she  would  bury  me  in  the  ever  fresh 
Nile,  and  that  then  she  would  take  a  donkey  and  ride 
through  the  dark  world  alone.  When,  contrary  to  her 
expectations,  I  was  still  alive  in  the  morning,  she  was 
very  disappointed.  She  coaxed  me  most  tenderly, 
begging  me  again  and  again  to  die  and  to  become,  as 
she  styled  it  now,  a  "beautiful  German  angel"  in  heaven. 
She  was  quite  in  earnest  about  it,  and  said  she  would  coax 
me  to  death,  after  which  she  would  love  me  more  than 
ever.  She  then  went  up  and  down  the  room  in  deep 
meditation  for  a  long  time.  Presently  she  came  to  me, 
and  kissing  me  for  the  first  time,  said  that  1  was  the 
dearest  woman  in  the  world,  and  that  as  I  had  not  died, 
she  had  decided  to  take  me  with  her  through  the  dark 
world.  She  then  talked  over  the  journey  with  me  with 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  251 

great  solemnity,  and,  with  the  most  significant  expression 
of  face,  finally  seating  herself  on  my  bed,  and  demanding 
pen  and  ink,  and  paper.  I  gave  her  what  she  asked  for, 
and  she  then  wrote  a  letter  with  the  utmost  speed,  and 
begged  me  to  give  it  to  a  servant,  and  tell  him  to  take  it 
to  the  post  at  once.  I  went  outside  the  door  of  my  room, 
opened  the  letter,  and  read : 

"  British  Consul,  Cairo : 

"  Pray  send  us  two  donkeys,  and  tell  us  the  way 
through  this  dark  world.     A  naughty  British  subject. 

"  RACHEL  COSSERAT." 

The  lettter  was  addressed  to  the  British  consul  of 
Her  Majesty  Yictoria.  I  put  it  in  my  pocket,  and 
returned  to  my  room  to  find  that  the  writer  had  already 
forgotten  its  contents  and  their  importance;  but  about 
five  weeks  afterwards,  when  in  Bavaria,  she  asked  me  if 
the  British  consul  had  sent  the  two  donkeys.  Now  that 
I  knew  of  small-pox  in  the  hospital,  it  was  my  duty  to 
leave  it,  with  my  protegee,  and,  although  the  doctor  told 
me  that  she  was  still  too  weak  to  travel,  and  required  a 
longer  rest,  I  took  my  departure  the  very  next  day. 
After  I  had  asked  the  matron  why  she  had  not  told  me 
about  the  small-pox,  she  declined  to  see  me,  and  I  found 
that  here,  as  elsewhere,  spiritual  women  must  have 
their  own  way  in  everything,  and  others  must  hold  their 
peace,  whether  they  are  right  or  wrong.  The  Sisters  of 
Mercy  also  deserted  me  entirely,  and  the  doctor  was  the 
only  person  who  recognised  and  acknowledged  that  I  had 
had  cause  to  complain. 

I  had  the  very  greatest  trouble  to  get  Miss  C.  ready 


252  THE  NORTH  STAR 

for  the  journey  to  Alexandria,  and  "angelic"  patience 
was  necessary  in  dressing  her.  Again  and  again  she 
took  off  her  dress  and  boots,  and  went  to  bed.  She  drove 
me  to  tears,  she  drove  me  to  the  most  earnest  entreaties, 
and  I  begged  her  with  kisses  to  obey  me.  I  tried  every- 
thing which  love  and  kindness  could  dictate,  and  when 
she  asked  me  for  my  best  silk  as  a  travelling  dress,  I  let 
her  have  it,  for  the  sake  of  bringing  this  four  hours'  toilette 
to  a  close,  and  getting  away  from  the  hospital. 

At  eleven  o'clock  arrived  my  escort,  whom  the  Austrian 
gentleman  sent  to  me  every  day,  and  I  asked  him  to  take 
us  to  the  station.  I  must  here  remark  that  the  confessor 
of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  at  the  hospital,  Father  Wenzeslaus, 
a  German  Capuchin  monk,  had  shown  great  compassion 
for  me  and  the  poor  lunatic.  The  good  father  was  very 
anxious  about  our  further  journey ;  he  told  the  Archbishop 
of  Alexandria,  who  was  then  in  Cairo,  about  us,  and  his 
Grace  had  authorised  him  to  recommend  me  to  the 
secretary  of  the  archiepiscopal  office  in  Alexandria. 

As  I  was  sitting  in  the  carriage  with  the  lunatic, 
Father  Wenzeslaus  came  and  brought  me  the  letter  of 
introduction,  telling  me  to  go  direct  to  the  archiepi- 
scopal palace  in  Alexandria.  Neither  the  matron  nor 
any  of  the  sisters,  however,  appeared  to  wish  me  and 
my  poor  charge  good-bye.  The  matron  did  not,  how- 
ever, forget  her  own  interests,  for  she  sent  me  a  most 
extortionate  bill,  which  she  had  no  right  to  do,  as  the 
payment  for  receiving  the  invalid  was  not  her  concern, 
but  that  of  the  directors  of  the  hospital.  I  felt  indignant, 
and  showed  the  account,  which  was  for  seventy-five, 
instead  of  fifty  francs,  to  Father  Wenzeslaus.  The  monk 


AND    THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  253 

owned  that  the  matron  was  wrong,  adding,  however,  that 
she  was  a  self-willed,  irritable  woman,  and  he  could  not 
interfere,  but  I  must  appeal  to  the  commissioners  of  the 
European  hospital.  To  do  that,  I  should  have  had  to  spend 
another  night  in  Cairo,  and  as  I  did  not  choose  to  go  to  a 
hotel  with  the  invalid,  I  paid  the  unjust  reckoning, 
and  left  the  hospital.  May  the  injustice  of  the  pious 
lady  to  two  unprotected  strangers  bring  her  abundance  of 
blessing. 

In  order  to  secure  further  official  protection  to  me,  the 
English  consul  at  Cairo  gave  me  a  letter  to  his  colleague 
at  Alexandria,  which  the  Austrian  gentleman  brought  to 
me  at  the  station  in  person.  He  was  still,  it  appeared, 
on  very  bad  terms  with  my  high-born  countryman,  who 
had  so  grossly  insulted  me,  but  whom,  however,  I  did  not 
see  again. 

At  the  station  I  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble  with  the 
Arab  officials,  who  not  only  showed  no  compassion  for  the 
poor  lunatic,  but  treated  us  very  insolently,  demanding 
that  I  should  pay  for  an  entire  coupe.  My  Arab  escort, 
however,  brought  the  matter  to  a  happy  termination  by  a 
liberal  baksheesh.  I  was  also  obliged  to  give  a  good 
round  sum  to  the  guard  of  the  train,  and,  after  many 
annoyances  and  expenses,  I  at  last  found  myself  in  a  cosy 
little  coupe.  I  now  handed  my  Arab  escort  a  fee  for  his 
faithful  service,  but  he  declined,  and  only  after  repeated 
persuasion  could  he  be  induced  to  accept  it.  This  simple 
Christian,  who  had  grown  up  amongst  the  rough  Arabs, 
was  more  of  a  gentleman  than  the  high-born  Mr.  von 
Schimmelpfennig,  who  had  enjoyed  the  advantage  of 
being  educated  in  the  highest  school  of  Prussian  nobility. 


254  THE  NORTH  STAR 

On  this  particular  day  Miss  Cosserat  was  very  frightened, 
and  throughout  the  whole  of  the  long  journey  from  Cairo 
to  Alexandria  she  remained  with  her  face  hidden,  and  her 
head  resting  on  my  shoulder.  I  got  very  tired  of  the 
weight,  but  prudence  urged  me  to  avoid  disturbing  her 
and  rousing  her  anger,  so  I  was  obliged  patiently  to  sub- 
mit to  what  could  not  be  altered. 

On  the  way,  the  approach  of  the  tram  of  the  son  of 
the  Khedive  was  announced,  and,  to  oblige  this  princely 
mortal,  our  train  had  to  wait  no  less  than  three  hours 
and  a  half  for  him  to  pass  by.  The  consequence  was 
that  our  train  was  very  late,  and  it  was  already  nine 
o'clock  when  we  reached  Alexandria.  How  much  I 
missed  my  faithful  escort !  for  I  felt  very  helpless  and  for- 
saken. Miss  Cosserat  was  sleeping  lightly,  so  I  laid  her 
head  down  on  the  cushion  of  the  bench  and  asked  the 
guard  to  take  care  of  her  for  a  few  moments,  which  the 
unfeeling  man  would  only  do  on  payment  of  a  fresh 
baksheesh.  I  asked  for  the  inspector's  office,  and  screwing 
up  my  courage,  I  entered  it.  The  inspector  was  an  Italian, 
but  spoke  French  and  English.  I  described  to  him  how 
and  with  whom  I  had  come  to  Alexandria,  and  begged  him 
to  tell  me  of  some  obliging  man,  who,  for  a  reasonable  fee, 
would  look  after  my  luggage,  and  help  me  to  get  the 
invalid  taken  to  the  town.  The  inspector  then  asked  me 
where  I  proposed  going,  and  I  showed  him  the  address  of 
my  letter  of  introduction,  and  told  him  I  hoped  to  get 
admission  to  the  European  hospital,  through  the  private 
secretary  of  the  archbishop.  After  a  little  consideration, 
my  interlocutor  said  he  would  have  my  luggage  taken  to 
a  carriage  and  would  himself  accompany  me  to  the  arch- 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  255 

bishop's  palace.  I  pointed  out  to  him  the  carriage  con- 
taining the  invalid,  and  hurried  back  to  her.  I  found 
her  sleeping  and  woke  her  up.  The  inspector  then  came, 
called  one  of  the  men  employed  at  the  station,  and,  with 
his  assistance,  brought  the  poor  creature  to  the  carriage. 
I  was  soon  rolling  rapidly  along  to  the  palace  of  the 
archbishop  accompanied  by  my  new  protector.  Miss 
Cosserat  looked  about  her  on  every  side  with  timid 
wondering  eyes,  and  then  up  to  heaven.  Presently  she 
furtively  took  my  hand,  and  said  with  a  half  smile,  "  It  is 
not  quite  so  dark  as  it  was,  Miss  Weppner,  we  are  in  Eng- 
land ;  I  see  that  from  the  beautiful  stars,  they  are  the  stars 
of  England." 

The  Italian  gentleman  looked  long  and  fixedly  at  my 
unhappy  charge,  whose  death-like  features  were  more 
ghostly  than  ever  in  the  pale  moonbeams.  At  last  he  said 
to  me,  in  French  :  "  Madam,  I  do  not  know  what  it  may 
be  which  binds  you  to  this  poor  soul,  but  I  pity  and  admire 
you.  I  am  a  man,  but  I  have  not  your  courage,  and  I 
could  not  undertake  such  a  task  as  yours." 

When  we  arrived  at  the  archbishop's  palace,  my  com- 
panion rang  the  bell,  and  as  no  one  answered,  he  rang  again 
and  again,  but  all  in  vain.  The  Sisters  of  Mercy  lived 
close  to  the  palace,  so  we  drove  to  the  hospital.  The  porter 
there,  however,  came  and  told  us  that  the  invalid  could  not 
be  received  without  the  recommendation  of  a  consul  or  a 
priest.  As  the  hospital  and  palace  were  only  divided  by 
the  convent  garden,  my  escort  asked  the  porter  to  take  a 
letter  to  the  archbishop's  secretary,  but  he  refused  to  do 
so,  declaring  that  the  reverend  gentleman  would  receive  no 
one  after  nine  o'clock,  and  it  was  now  nearly  ten.  What 


256  THE  NORTH  STAR 

was  to  be  done  ?  I  could  not  take  the  lunatic  to  a  hotel, 
a  circumstance  which  had  never  occurred  to  me  while  in 
India. 

The  Italian  gentleman  then  ordered  the  coachman  to 
drive  to  the  house  of  a  friend  of  his  close  by,  and  this 
friend  told  him  of  a  French  lady  who  was  not  rich,  and  who, 
he  said,  would  be  glad  to  give  us  a  room  for  the  night. 
We  therefore  went  to  the  house  specified.  The  French 
lady  showed  me  several  rooms,  and  I  chose  the  largest, 
which  contained  two  beds,  for  which  my  hostess  said  the 
charge  would  be  ten  francs  for  the  night.  When  the  in- 
valid had  been  taken  to  her  new  quarters,  the  Italian  gave 
me  his  card  and  said  he  would  go  to  the  archbishop's  sec- 
retary the  next  morning,  and  then  come  and  tell  me  what 
that  gentleman  could  do  for  my  charge.  I  thanked  the 
inspector  for  his  kindness  and  he  withdrew. 

Miss  Cosserat  was  very  weak,  she  laid  herself  down  on 
the  hard  floor,  and  I  did  not  succeed  in  getting  her  to  bed. 
The  thought  that  the  poor  creature  had  no  comforts,  pre- 
vented me  from  going  to  sleep,  and  in  the  morning  I  was 
very  much  exhausted,  for  it  was  a  long  tune  since  I  had 
had  a  thorough  rest,  and  the  want  of  it  told  upon  me  more 
and  more.  At  breakfast,  the  French  lady  came  in  and 
asked  me  if  we  were  Americans  or  English,  and  I  told  her 
that  the  invalid  was  English  and  I  myself  German. 

"  Are  you  a  Prussian  ? "  exclaimed  the  woman,  with  a 
glance  of  fury. 

"  Yes,"  I  replied.  This  single  word  acted  like  poison, 
and  to  my  intense  astonishment,  she  related  to  me  with 
growing  anger,  the  terrible  manner  in  which  the  Germans 
had  treated  her  son  in  the  war. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  257 

"  My  son,"  screamed  the  woman,  "  was  taken  to  Prussia 
as  a  prisoner  and  '  let  chiens  allemands '  let  him  starve 
and  did  not  give  him  so  much  as  a  bit  of  dry  bread."  I 
gently  tried  to  calm  the  excited  mother,  and  said  that  even 
if  what  she  had  told  me  was  true  it  was  no  fault  of  mine, 
and  that  I  was  very  sorry  her  son  had  been  treated  so. 

"  What ! "  she  shrieked  passionately,  "  you  choose  to 
doubt  what  I  say ;  les  chiens  allemands  are  savages ! "  I  now 
expected  nothing  less  than  that  the  woman  would  seize 
hold  of  me  and  illtreat  me,  but,  at  that  moment,  there  came 
a  knock  at  the  door ;  I  cried  "  Come  in,"  and,  to  my  great 
relief,  in  walked  the  Italian.  The  Frenchwoman  now 
broke  out  into  reproaches  against  him  like  a  Communist 
petroleuse,  accusing  him  of  having  brought  a  Prussian 
into  her  house,  and  declaring  that  I  should  pay  dearly  for 
it.  Not  ten  but  thirty  francs  should  she  demand  for  my 
night's  lodging,  and  ten  francs  extra  for  the  coffee  and  tea. 
The  Italian  remonstrated  against  her  unjust  demands,  and 
vindicated  me  from  her  foolish  and  groundless  charges. 
"  "What ! "  replied  the  woman  to  my  protector ;  "  shall  I  let 
a  Prussian  go  without  revenging  myself  on  her  ?  No, 
certainly  not ;  and  if  I  had  known  before  breakfast  that 
she  was  a  tete  carree,  I  would  have  made  her  some  coffee 
which  should  have  fully  satisfied  my  revenge."  The  last 
words  roused  the  indignation  of  the  Italian,  and  he 
said,  "I  shall  at  once  go  to  the  French  consul  and 
demand  his  protection  for  this  lady.  She  shall  pay  you 
no  more  for  her  room  than  the  sum  you  asked  last  night 
in  my  presence." 

But  matters  now  grew  worse,  for  the  malicious  woman 
called  her  husband,  and  he  rushed  in,  accompanied  by  the 
VOL.  n.  17 


258  THE  NORTH  STAR 

servant  of  the  house,  both  of  them  fanatical  enemies  of 
the  Prussians.  Miss  Cosserat  appeared  to  understand 
my  dangerous  situation,  for  she  thrust  herself  timidly 
between  the  excited  Frenchman  and  the  worn  an;  took  my 
hands,  and  said, "  Miss  Weppner  is  good,  I  tell  you ;  I  love 
her,  and  I  shall  kill  everybody  who  illtreats  her."  At 
this,  the  savage  woman,  and  the  coarse  men,  who  did  not 
understand  the  language  of  the  poor  lunatic,  laughed  dia- 
bolically and  used  the  most  shocking  words. 

Under  such  circumstances,  the  Italian  could  not,  of 
course,  leave  me  to  go  and  demand  the  interference  of 
the  consul,  and  the  end  of  this  Communist  attack  was  that 
I  paid  what  the  Frenchwoman  demanded,  and  we  then 
immediately  left  the  house. 

As  a  guarantee  of  the  unjust  exaction,  the  men  had 
taken  away  one  of  my  trunks,  and  when  the  servant  carried 
it  to  the  carriage,  he  asked  for  a  fee.  This  was  genuine 
French  revenge.  I  was  to  experience  a  little  of  everything 
on  my  journey. 

The  Italian  could  find  no  words  to  express  his  indigna- 
tion, and  wanted  to  go  to  the  French  consul  before 
anything,  but  I  dissuaded  him,  as  I  should  not  have  got 
my  money  back,  and  I  thanked  Heaven  that  I  was  quit  of 
the  dangerous  woman.  If  my  protector  had  not  arrived 
in  the  nick  of  time,  who  can  tell  what  would  have  become 
of  me  ?  and  the  poor  lunatic  would  have  been  no  better  than 
a  dead  witness.  The  very  same  day  I  heard  of  the 
atrocities  being  committed  in  Paris  by  the  Communists, 
and  the  "petroleuse  women." 

The  archbishop's  secretary  was  also  a  Frenchman,  but 
he  received  me  with  genuine  cordiality,  and  he,  and  my 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  259 

chivalric  Italian  friend,  went  with  me  and  the  poor  lunatic 
to  the  French  hospital.  The  reverend  gentleman  showed 
the  matron  the  letter  from  Father  "Wenzeslaus,  which  the 
archbishop  had  signed  with  his  own  hand,  and  she  then 
asked  me  if  I  was  prepared  to  pay  the  ordinary  charges 
for  staying  in  the  establishment.  On  my  replying  in  the 
affirmative,  she  told  me  what  she  should  demand  per  day 
for  me  and  the  invalid,  and  added  the  condition  I  should 
sleep  in  the  same  room  with  my  charge  and  take  care  of 
her  at  night  myself.  Although  it  was  easy  to  see  that 
the  matron  was  treating  me  without  any  pity,  and  with  a 
view  to  her  own  interests,  I  agreed  to  the  conditions,  for 
I  knew  well  enough  that  the  state  of  health  and  mind  of 
my  poor  protegee  left  me  no  choice,  and  that  I  must  sub- 
mit to  the  exactions  of  others. 

My  Italian  friend  now  left  me,  after  I  had  thanked  him 
most  earnestly,  and  I  went  with  Miss  Cosserat  into  the 
room  assigned  to  me  on  the  first  floor  of  the  large  hos- 
pital. 

The  costume  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  in  Alexandria  was 
very  different  from  that  of  the  sisters  in  Cairo.  The 
members  of  both  institutions  have  the  same  calling,  but 
do  not  belong  to  the  same  order.  The  sisters  in  Cairo  are 
called  "  Sisters  of  St.  Marie,"  and  wore  a  secular,  rather 
than  an  ecclesiastical,  dress ;  whereas  those  in  Alex- 
andria patronise  the  well-known  grey  habit  with  the 
broad  white  collar  and  high  stiff  cap.  Miss  Cosserat  cast 
terrified  glances  at  the  matron  and  sisters  passing  to  and 
fro,  and  begged  me,  in  a  whisper,  to  take  her  away  from 
the  Catholics,  for  she  could  not  live  with  nuns.  The 
matron  did  not  speak  English,  but  she  had  caught  the 


360  THE  NORTH  STAR 

word  Catholics  and  asked  me  if  the  lunatic  were  a  Pro- 
testant, on  which  to  my  great  astonishment,  the  patient 
herself  replied  in  good  French,  looking  defiantly  at 
the  questioner,  and  stamping  her  foot,  "  Oui,  madame, 
heureusement" 

Our  room  was  very  small,  with  only  one  window,  and 
no  furniture  but  two  iron  bedsteads  and  a  wash-stand, 
but,  although  1  had  not  so  much  as  a  chair,  and  had  to  sit 
on  my  bed,  first-class  terms  were  demanded.  Indeed,  I 
had  never  in  my  life  occupied  such  wretched  quarters  as 
I  had  done  since  I  had  had  to  take  refuge  with  my  lunatic 
in  European  hospitals,  for  even  amongst  the  most 
primitive  Eastern  Asiatics,  I  had  always  at  least  had  a 
chair  to  sit  upon.  Moreover,  it  was  in  Egypt  that  I  for 
the  first  time  entered  a  hospital.  I  told  the  matron  1 
should  at  once  make  arrangements  for  my  further  journey 
to  Europe,  and  that  I  hoped  I  should  not  have  to  remain 
long  in  Alexandria.  To  my  great  relief,  the  archbishop's 
secretary  had  assured  me  that  there  was  no  infectious  dis- 
ease in  the  hospital. 

My  wretched  and  comfortless  room,  and  the  coarse 
meagre  fare,  were  neither  of  them  calculated  to  increase 
my  physical  strength  or  to  raise  my  moral  courage,  and 
it  pained  me  to  see  that  the  miserable  scanty  portion 
of  food  dealt  out  to  the  lunatic  was  weighed  and 
measured  by  one  of  the  sisters.  In  spite  of  the  liberal 
terms  I  was  paying,  I  felt  as  if  we  had  both  become 
beggars,  for  I  had  never  before  tasted  such  watery  tea  and 
coffee,  such  watery  soup,  or  such  watery  vegetables.  In 
the  morning  and  evening  we  had  nothing  but  the  weakest 
coffee  and  tea,  and  a  piece  of  dry  bread.  I  went  to  the 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  261 

matron,  and  told  her  such  slender  diet  would  pull  down 
the  invalid  very  much,  and  I  reminded  her  of  the  high 
terms  I  was  paying.  But  she  informed  me  that  the  pay- 
ment was  rather  for  being  received  at  all,  and  for  our 
separate  room,  than  for  anything  else.  I  asked  her  for  a 
table  and  two  chairs,  that  we  might,  at  least,  enjoy  what 
was  given  to  us  with  a  little  more  comfort,  but  her  answer 
was  that  it  was  not  the  rule  of  the  hospital  to  provide 
tables  and  chairs,  as  the  patients  generally  sat  upon  their 
beds  and  ate  the  portions  provided  for  them,  and,  although 
I  was  no  patient,  I  must  conform  to  the  rules  of  the  hos- 
pital and  be  content  with  what  was  given  to  me.  I  do  not 
think,  however,  that  the  matron  insisted  upon  this  meagre 
fare  for  all  the  people  in  the  hospital  who  were  not  patients, 
for  her  own  figure  was  the  very  impersonation  of  an  eccle- 
siastical woman  who  does  not  forget  the  necessities  of  the 
body,  and  I  subsequently  had  an  opportunity  of  convinc- 
ing myself  that  she  and  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  kept  a  princely 
table. 

Before  my  visit  to  Egypt  I  held  the  order  of  the 
Sisters  of  Mercy  in  the  highest  honour,  and  the  calling  of 
its  members  appeared  to  be  the  purest,  the  most  beautiful, 
the  noblest,  and  the  most  praiseworthy  of  any  Christian 
calling,  and  I  still  think  that  the  order  is  a  serviceable 
one  to  mankind.  Many  a  sufferer  has  met  with  gentle  and 
sympathetic  treatment  in  a  hospital ;  many  a  one  has  found 
a  noble  woman's  soul  in  one  of  these  sisters,  and  has  been 
nursed  by  her  with  Christian  love,  to  recover  under  her 
treatment,  or  to  die  easily  and  happily,  consoled  by  her 
prayers.  Many  a  homeless  sufferer,  too,  who  found  no 
Christian  sympathy,  but  only  cold  mechanical  nursing  in 


262  THE  NORTH  STAR 

the  hospital  in  which  he  was  received  had,  at  least,  a  secure 
and  suitable  place  in  which  to  meet  the  merciful  Angel  of 
Death,  who  rescued  him  from  the  miseries  of  life,  and  from 
the  unchristianlike  scenes  of  which  he  was  a  witness  in  his 
death-chamber.  Thousands  of  such  sufferers  who  died  in 
the  lonely  rooms  of  hospitals  are  now  in  eternity,  and  no 
record  tells  the  world  what  they  endured  in  their  last 
hours,  shrouded  as  it  is  beneath  the  deceptive  veil  of 
Christian  love.  In  the  register  of  eternity  alone  are 
engraved  the  complaints  brought  before  the  Judge  from 
such  Institutions  sealed  with  the  holy  name  of  Jesus. 
How  much  injustice,  cruelty,  impurity,  and  wrong-doing 
goes  on  in  that  most  holy  and  most  beautiful  name  in 
these  fatal  rooms,  the  battle-fields  of  death !  All  my  fair 
illusions  as  to  the  purity  and  Christianity  of  the  order  of 
the  Sisters  of  Mercy  were  destroyed  by  my  experiences 
in  the  hospitals  of  Cairo  and  Alexandria.  There,  I  not 
only  heard,  but  personally  witnessed  much  which  had 
not  the  very  slightest  claim  to  the  title  of  "beautiful 
calling  "  or  "  Sisterhood  of  Mercy."  And  the  order  which 
1  held  so  pure  until  then,  I  cannot  hold  as  an  entirely 
pure  Christian  order  since.  How  guilt-stained  will  many 
of  these  deceitful  Sisters  of  Mercy  appear  before  the  throne 
of  God,  how  many  witnesses  against  them,  who  breathed 
their  last  before  their  eyes,  will  rise  up  in  the  day  of 
judgment ! 

The  world  in  general  knows  too  much  of  the  bright,  too 
little  of  the  dark  side  of  these  so-called  Christian  Institu- 
tions. I  say  so-called,  for  but  few  of  these  numerous 
Institutions  are  really  and  truly  Christian.  But  few 
of  the  many  women  who  join  the  order  of  the  Sisters 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CX088.  263 

of  Mercy  do  so  out  of  pure  Christian  love.  Many,  and 
amongst  them  are  some  of  those  I  met  in  Cairo  and 
Alexandria,  are  driven  to  take  refuge  in  a  convent  by 
worldly  disappointment,  where  they  vent  the  spleen  of  an 
embittered  spirit  on  the  poor  suffering  and  dying.  Such 
women  are  never  contented,  never  happy,  but  always 
bitter,  irritable  and  gross,  and  woe  to  the  invalid  who  falls 
into  their  clutches.  The  mere  act  of  taking  the  deceptive 
and  so-called  sacred  veil,  is  a  delusion,  a  crime  against 
humanity,  and  a  great  sin  before  God ;  for  they  do  no  deeds 
of  mercy,  they  do  but  take  their  revenge  for  a  disappointed 
life  on  poor  suffering  and  dying  people.  The  image 
before  their  eyes  is  not  in  all  cases  that  of  their  spiritual 
bridegroom,  Christ,  to  whom  they  have  sworn  faith  and 
chastity,  but  that  of  some  worldly  bridegroom,  to  whom 
they  promised  eternal  love,  but  who  has  deceived  them  and 
whom  they  have  left  behind  them  in  the  world.  Devotion 
to  Christ,  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Him,  is  but  a  false  pre- 
tence, and  alas,  how  often  is  Christ,  the  chosen  bridegroom, 
thus  sinned  against !  The  ecclesiastical  marriages  are 
the  greatest  deceptions  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and 
are  an  imposture  on  the  unenlightened  bigoted  classes 
of  mankind.  But  Christ  is  not  deceived  by  them,  and  in 
heaven  the  bridal  nuns  are  estimated  at  their  true  value. 
Many  of  those  who  leave  the  world  and  become  the 
brides  of  Christ  in  convents,  enter  on  a  second  mesalliance. 
And  how  audacious,  how  absurd  it  is  to  call  in  the  pure 
spirit  of  the  Christian  Church  in  such  a  transaction  !  It 
strikes  me  that  the  Sister  of  Mercy,  who  took  me  and  my 
poor  protegee  under  her  ecclesiastical  wing  in  the  hospital 
at  Alexandria,  and  waited  upon  us  in  our  wretched  room, 


264  THE  NORTH  STAB 

was  a  false  sister  of  mercy  and  a  false  bride  of  Christ.  She 
was  a  Frenchwoman  of  a  very  ill-tempered,  irritable  and 
jealous  disposition,  who  was  as  much  feared  by  all  the 
patients  as  thunder  and  lightning.  Miss  Cosserat,  with 
the  discrimination  often  shown  in  lunacy,  called  her  a 
tyrant  and  a  reptile.  This  sister  was  always  hi  a  bad 
humour,  but  she  only  quarrelled  once  a  day,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  she  never  left  off  quarrelling.  She  treated  my 
poor  charge  harshly  and  roughly,  and  used  to  push  her 
miserable  portion  of  food  before  her,  much  as  if  she  had 
been  a  dog.  Miss  Cosserat,  although  a  lunatic,  had  soon 
found  out  the  evil  nature  of  this  pious-looking  nun  with 
her  long  rosary  and  numerous  medallions.  Children  and 
fools,  they  say,  speak  the  truth.  One  day  she  tore  off  her 
cap,  and  said  in  plainest  French,  "  You  are  a  hypocrite ; 
you  are  no  sister  of  mercy,  for  you  treat  us  like  dogs." 
This  time,  at  least,  a  lunatic  spoke  truth,  for  I  should  have 
treated  a  dog  better  than  the  nun  did  my  protegee.  She 
never  had  a  kind  word  for  the  poor  weak  invalid,  and  when 
she  was  out  of  humour,  she  would  drag  her  about,  as  if  she 
did  not  recognise  her  to  be  a  fellow-creature.  The  con- 
sequence was  that  Miss  Cosserat  bolted  our  door  on  the 
inside,  and  refused  to  see  the  wicked  sister. 

The  heaviest  work  of  the  hospital  was  attended  to  by 
the  patients  who  were  getting  better  and  expecting  their 
dismissal.  The  Sisters  of  Mercy  were  ladies  waited  upon, 
and  not  sisters  in  attendance  at  the  hospital.  Each  of 
them  had  her  female  servant,  who  obeyed  her  orders,  and 
the  sisters  themselves  did,  so  to  speak,  nothing  for  the 
poor  invalids.  When  the  doctor  was  going  his  rounds, 
however,  each  one  hurried  to  her  post  and  seemed  very 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROS8.  265 

busy,  but  as  soon  as  he  was  gone,  rooms,  invalids,  and 
everything  else  were  handed  over  to  the  weakened  con- 
valescents, who,  by  way  of  recreation,  had  to  be  the 
hard-worked  servants  of  the  hospital  day  and  night ; 
for  by  day  the  sisters  did  little  for  the  invalids  but 
give  orders,  and,  at  night,  they  did  nothing  at  all.  They 
all  slept  in  the  upper  story  of  the  hospital,  and  on  the 
lower  story,  containing  the  invalids,  a  female  patient 
watched  over  the  women,  and  a  male  patient  over  the  men. 
This  one  female  watcher  had  charge  of  several  large  wards, 
all  full  of  sufferers,  so  that  it  was  impossible  for  each 
patient  to  have  the  necessary  care  and  attention.  The 
cleaning  of  the  wards  was  also  done  by  weak  and  miserable 
convalescents,  the  nuns  standing  idly  by  with  their  rosaries 
in  their  hands.  I  was  once  a  witness  of  how  little  the 
Sisters  of  Mercy  know  how  to  perform  their  duties.  One 
day,  a  poor  lunatic,  who  was  very  quiet,  was  brought  to 
the  hospital,  and  to  save  themselves  trouble  with  her,  the 
sisters  shut  the  poor  woman  up  in  a  room,  and  left  her  to 
herself.  She  soon  began  to  cry  out  piteously,  now  for  this, 
now  for  that,  but  she  was  allowed  to  call  for  hours  without 
any  notice  being  taken  of  her.  Then  she  became  hoarse, 
thumped  at  the  door,  and  finally  broke  her  window.  Until 
then  the  sisters  remained  deaf,  but,  as  soon  as  she  had 
worked  herself  into  a  frenzy,  they  put  on  her  a  strait 
jacket.  The  little  the  nuns  did  for  the  unfortunate 
patients  of  the  hospital  was  done  in  a  mechanical,  im- 
patient manner.  All  mercy,  pity,  womanly  tenderness, 
and  Christian  love  was  wanting,  and  everything  was  done 
as  a  matter  of  business,  without  heart  or  feeling. 

Amongst  the  numerous  French  nuns  in  the  hospital 


266  THE  NORTH  STAR 

there  was  one  German,  with  whom  I  struck  up  a  friendship, 
confessing  to  her  my  opinion  of  the  hypocritical  life  led  by 
her  fellow  sisters.  My  countrywoman  was  evidently  sin- 
cere herself,  and  she  once  said  to  me  with  tears  in  her  eyes, 
"  The  veil  does  not  make  the  nun  ;  there  is  no  injury  and 
no  suffering  whi"ch  I  have  not  endured  amongst  these 
hypocritical  women,  and,"  she  added,  "  there  is  no  crime 
under  heaven,  which  is  not  committed  in  convents.  My 
lot  is  irremediable,  but  all  things  have  an  end,  and  God 
knows  all  that  I  have  here  suffered  and  endured." 

As  soon  as  the  matron  found  out  that  the  German  nun 
visited  me  in  my  room,  she  forbade  her  to  do  so,  and  the 
poor  thing  was  compelled  to  obey. 

It  was  easy  to  see  that  living  amongst  nuns  made  the 
condition  of  poor  Miss  Cosserat  worse,  for  the  very  sight 
of  them  roused  her  to  fury.  She  had  just  as  much  horror 
and  fear  of  priests  as  of  female  ecclesiastics.  One  day  I 
succeeded  in  dressing  her,  and  took  her  with  me  into  the 
garden  of  the  hospital,  out  of  which  a  little  door  led  into 
the  archbishop's  palace,  with  a  seminary  containing  a  good 
many  priests  in  connection  with  it.  These  priests  perform 
divine  service  in  the  chapel  of  the  hospital,  and  are  the 
confessors  and  ecclesiastical  advisers  of  the  Lady  Superior 
and  the  nuns.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  traffic  through 
this  little  door,  nuns  and  fathers  passing  backwards  and 
forwards  frequently,  and,  on  the  day  when  I  was  walking 
in  the  garden  with  Miss  Cosserat,  a  priest  came  in  by  it, 
but  as  soon  as  she  caught  sight  of  the  black-robed  figure, 
she  ran  timidly  away,  and  I  could  never  persuade  her  to 
go  into  the  garden  again. 

Immediately  after  my  arrival  in  the  hospital  of  Alex- 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  2Q1 

andria,  I  went  to  the  office  of  Baron  H.,  director  of  the 
Austrian  Lloyd's  Company,  for  a  passage  to  Trieste,  but 
he  was  not  to  be  persuaded,  and  said  he  could  not  grant  my 
request  at  any  price.  He  appeared  to  doubt  my  assurance 
that  the  lunatic  had  done  no  passenger  any  injury  between 
India  and  Suez,  and  his  great  dread  was  the  danger  to 
children  on  board.  He  was  afraid  Miss  C.  might  seize  some 
child  and  throw  it  into  the  sea.  There  was  nothing  for 
me  to  reply  to  such  apprehensions.  I  could  but  promise 
to  watch  my  charge  well  and  conscientiously,  but  it  was 
impossible  for  me  to  guarantee  the  safety  of  all  passen- 
gers, knowing  myself  to  be  in  constant  danger.  This 
difficulty  of  getting  a  passage  rendered  my  dreary  stay  in 
the  hospital  all  the  more  dreary,  and  I  was  at  a  loss  what 
to  do  and  how  to  leave  Egypt.  Forsake  my  protegee  I 
could  not,  my  heart  revolted  against  the  very  thought  of 
it ;  and  God  would  certainly  have  forsaken  me,  had  I 
forsaken  this  poor  orphan  child.  Miss  Cosserat  became 
worse  and  worse,  and  the  Sister  of  Mercy  who  had  charge 
of  our  room  and  visited  us  three  times  a  day  to  deal  out 
our  portions  of  food  became  crosser  and  crosser.  The 
sister  did  not  however  do  any  actual  work  in  our  room,  our 
food  and  drink  was  brought  in  by  the  poor  convalescents, 
and  she  merely  appeared  to  measure  it  and  give  it  to  us. 
Miss  Cosserat,  of  malice  prepense  and  with  inconceivable 
cunning,  did  all  in  her  power  to  rouse  the  anger  of  this 
irritable  sister,  so  that  she  was  always  out  of  temper, 
and  not  once  did  she  show  any  patience  or  forbearance 
with  the  lunatic.  Of  course  the  sister's  malignity  only 
increased  my  patient's  hatred  of  her,  and,  to  make  matters 
worse,  Miss  C.  always  wished  me  out  of  the  way,  because 


268  THE  NORTH  STAR 

I  tried  to  make  her  keep  her  hatred  within  due  bounds. 
She  knew  exactly  the  hour  at  which  the  sister  would  come, 
and,  as  it  approached,  she  would  try,  either  by  force  or 
stratagem,  to  get  rid  of  me,  and  if  I  did  not  do  what  she 
wished,  I  had  to  suffer  for  it.  "Water,  soup,  coffee,  tea, 
and  everything  else  was  thrown  over  me  or  into  my  face, 
and  she  would  try  to  drive  me  from  the  room  with  blows 
and  kicks.  If  I  went  away  or  left  her  under  the  care  of 
one  or  another  of  the  poor  convalescents,  for  a  sister  never 
took  charge  of  her,  I  found  everything  in  confusion  on  my 
return.  What  no  one  else  could  have  destroyed,  she  found 
means  to  ruin,  and  there  was  really  no  suffering  short  of 
death  which  she  did  not  inflict  upon  me.  Often  in  my 
misery  and  despair  I  fell  upon  my  knees,  and  with  stream- 
ing eyes  prayed  to  Heaven  for  patience. 

At  last,  one  night,  I  was  in  such  great  danger,  that  I 
decided  on  a  step  which  procured  for  me  a  few  days'  rest 
and  change.  I  had  been  to  the  office  of  the  P.  &  O. 
Company  which  runs  vessels  between  Alexandria  and 
Brindisi,  where,  however,  I  had  also  failed  in  my  endeavour 
to  procure  a  passage.  A  young  girl  had  looked  after  my 
protegee  during  my  absence,  and  had  been  careless 
enough  to  give  her  a  pair  of  scissors.  Miss  Cosserat 
proceeded  to  cut  up  everything  she  could  lay  hands  on, 
including  some  of  the  bedclothes,  and  every  article  of  dress 
she  had  on,  even  to  her  boots.  She  then  strewed  the  pieces 
about  the  floor  and  poured  water  over  them.  The  young 
girl  went  and  called  the  sisters,  who,  if  they  had  been  doing 
their  duty,  would  have  watched  over  the  lunatic  themselves, 
when  all  this  would  not  have  happened.  For  all  that, 
however,  they  were  now  beside  themselves  with  rage,  and 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  26& 

they  locked  the  poor  creature  in  her  room,  taking  away 
the  key.  When  I  came  back  to  the  hospital  I  found  her 
lying  on  the  hard  floor,  with  no  clothes  on.  I  treated  her 
as  tenderly  as  possible,  put  on  her  a  night  dress,  and  she 
got  into  bed  and  went  to  sleep.  In  the  night,  however,  she 
got  up  and  looked  for  her  boots,  and  not  being  able  to  find 
them,  accused  me  of  stealing  them.  I  tried  to  convince 
her  that  she  had  cut  them  up  herself,  and  showed  her  the 
pieces.  She  then  called  me  a  liar,  seized  me  by  the  hair, 
kicked  me  violently  in  the  stomach,  and  then  stood  upon 
me  with  both  feet.  I  felt  suffocated,  but  I  managed  to  get 
hold  of  both  her  hands,  when  she  lost  her  balance  and  fell. 
I  screamed  for  help  and  sprang  out  at  the  door.  The 
sisters,  as  previously  stated,  all  slept  on  the  floor  above, 
and  none  was  near  to  give  any  assistance  in  case  of  need. 
But  a  poor  woman,  who  was  watching  the  patients, 
heard  my  cry  of  distress  and  came  to  see  what  was  the 
matter.  I  had  pain  in  my  stomach  and  chest,  and  the 
woman  gave  me  a  drink  of  cold  water,  and  rubbed  my 
bruises  with  arnica.  Meanwhile,  Miss  Cosserat  had  torn 
up  all  her  body  linen,  and  was  lying  quietly  in  bed.  It 
was  now  only  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  moon  was 
shining  brightly,  and  suffering,  weeping,  and  afraid  to  lie 
down  again,  I  slowly  dressed  myself.  The  good  woman 
who  had  come  to  my  assistance  took  my  place  and  urged 
me  not  to  go  near  the  lunatic  for  a  time,  and  I  went  down 
into  the  garden.  I  wandered  about  the  flowers,  complain- 
ing silently  to  my  Heavenly  Father,  and  pondering  on  the 
miserable  life  I  was  leading  in  the  hospital,  and  I  came  to 
think  that  perhaps  my  charge  was  weary  of  me,  and  that 
a  short  separation  from  her  might  mollify  her,  and  recon- 


270  THE  NORTH  STAR 

cile  her  to  me.  I  had  an  intense  longing  for  a  change, 
and  a  former  wish  to  see  the  Holy  Land  of  Palestine 
came  over  me  again. 

I  therefore  went  to  the  English  consul,  whom  I  had 
already  seen  several  times,  and  who  had  shown  me  the 
greatest  sympathy.  He  knew  of  all  the  letters  and 
telegrams  which  I  had  received  from  Mr.  Cosserat,  the 
lunatic's  father,  and  was  about  as  well  acquainted  with  my 
patient's  sad  state  as  I  was  myself.  At  my  request  James 
Lane,  Esq.,  English  Yice-Consul  and  Judge  in  Alexandria, 
accompanied  by  Dr.  Makee,  also  attached  to  the  English 
consulate,  had  visited  Miss  Cosserat  at  the  hospital.  The 
lunatic  was  in  an  extremely  weak  state,  and  I  thought  it 
would  be  prudent  to  make  the  English  authorities  ac- 
quainted with  her  condition,  that  I  might  have  their 
official  support  and  legal  justification  in  case  of  the  worst. 
I  was  the  guardian  of  the  lunatic,  and  her  death  might 
have  placed  me  in  the  most  difficult  and  suspicious 
position. 

I  told  all  my  trouble  to  the  English  consul,  explaining 
to  him  how  the  entire  care  of  the  invalid  fell  upon  me 
alone,  and  that  I  never  got  a  night's  rest,  which  had  quite 
exhausted  my  strength.  I  expressed  my  opinion  that 
the  lunatic  was  tired  of  me,  and  that  a  short  absence 
might  perhaps  reconcile  her  to  my  presence  again,  whilst 
a  good  rest  would  restore  my  strength  and  courage.  I 
expressed  my  wish  to  be  relieved  for  a  few  days  from  my 
cares  and  duties,  and  to  be  able  to  travel  to  Palestine 
meanwhile. 

It  was  easy  to  convince  the  consul  and  the  other 
gentleman  that  my  complaints  were  well-grounded,  for 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  271 

they  had  personally  witnessed  what  I  had  to  endure,  and 
the  matron  of  the  hospital  had  told  them  that  there  was 
not  my  equal  for  patience  in  the  hospital,  declaring  in 
French,  "  Elle  a  une  patience  angelique"  Nor  could  any 
one  who  saw  me  have  a  doubt  of  my  weak  state  of  health, 
and  the  consul  at  once  expressed  his  readiness  to  be 
responsible  for  the  lunatic  during  my  absence,  he  having 
previously  read  the  letter  of  authority  from  her  father, 
James  Cosserat,  giving  me  a  legal  right,  in  case  of  neces- 
sity, to  do  what  1  now  proposed.  When  the  matron  of 
the  hospital  heard  of  my  design,  she  manifested  the  greatest 
fear  lest  I  should  not  come  back  again,  and  talked  a  great 
deal  of  the  possibility  of  my  dying  on  the  journey  to 
Palestine.  But  her  real  and  sole  anxiety  was  lest  she  should 
have  to  look  after  the  lunatic  without  payment,  and  I 
therefore  fully  reassured  the  merciful  lady  on  that  point. 
She  sent  two  nuns  with  well-disciplined  tongues  to  the 
English  consulate,  who  took  care  of  the  interests  of  the 
hospital  better  than  all  the  advocates  in  the  world  could 
have  done,  and,  in  their  presence,  I  handed  over  to  the 
consul  a  sum  twice  as  large  as  would  be  required  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  the  poor  lunatic  until  my  return. 
At  the  same  time  I  placed  in  his  hands  a  sealed  packet 
containing  the  letters  and  telegrams,  with  the  balance  of 
the  money  sent  to  me  by  Mr.  James  Cosserat,  of  Patna. 
The  Lady  Superior  and  Sisters  of  Mercy  then  made  me  a 
solemn  Christian  promise  to  take  good  care  of  the  poor 
lunatic  day  and  night ;  how  they  fulfilled  that  promise  I 
shall  presently  relate. 

When  I  told  Miss  Cosserat  that  I  thought  she  did  not 
love  me  any  more,  because  she  hunted  me  out  of  the  room 


272  THE  NORTH  STAR 

so  often  and  so  unkindly,  and  that,  in  accordance  with  her 
often  repeated  wishes  and  orders  "to  go,"  I  was  now 
going  to  do  so,  and  would  leave  her  for  a  few  days,  she 
began  to  lament  bitterly.  But  her  sorrow,  like  her  love, 
was  of  a  peculiar  nature,  for  she  presently  said,  embracing 
me  closely,  and  with  a  long  deep  sigh,  "Alas,  Miss 
Weppner,  how  I  do  love  you ;  how  I  should  like  to  kill 
you !  Come  back  soon." 

And  yet,  judging  from  her  clamorous  grief  after  I  left 
her,  I  cannot  but  believe  that  the  poor  creature  did  love 
me,  somewhat  after  the  fashion  of  some  poor  mother 
bereft  of  reason,  who,  in  her  madness,  tries  to  destroy  her 
own  child  and  those  who  are  dearest  to  her.  Indeed,  in 
spite  of  all  the  insults  and  ill-treatment  I  received  from 
her,  the  lunatic  often  gave  me  infallible  proof  that  she 
was  sensible  of  my  kindness  and  patience,  and  that  she 
loved  me. 

I  left  several  affectionate  little  notes  with  the  matron, 
and  begged  her  to  give  them  separately  to  my  poor  pro- 
tegee from  time  to  time,  in  case  she  should  mourn  over  my 
absence  and  long  after  me. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  273 


CHAPTEE  VI. 

THE  journey  from  Alexandria  in  Egypt  to  Palestine  in 
Asia  Minor  is  only  a  short  trip.  Although,  as  a  Prussian, 
I  had  been  rather  roughly  treated  in  Alexandria,  I  now, 
on  the  other  hand,  received  a  favour  on  board  a  French 
steamer,  and  my  voyage  from  Alexandria  to  Jaffa  and 
back  only  cost  me  the  terms  for  first-class  board  for  three 
days  each  way. 

The  Rev.  Father  Placide  Beige,  cne  archbishop  of 
Alexandria's  private  secretary,  a  generous  Frenchman, 
recommended  me  in  the  name  of  his  eminence  to  the 
Franciscan  Fathers  at  Jaffa  and  Jerusalem.  How  relieved 
I  felt  when  I  started  on  my  journey  alone  and  unencum- 
bered. But  the  remembrance  of  my  poor  protegee  was 
intensely  painful  to  me,  and  I  could  not  get  rid  of  the 
presence  of  her  miserable  figure  before  me ;  hundreds  of 
times  I  was  back  again  with  her  in  imagination  in  the 
wretched  uncomfortable  room  in  the  hospital  at  Alexan- 
dria. The  poor  creature's  shadow  followed  me  every- 
where; her  image  haunted  me  day  and  night,  and  the 
thought  that  I  had  not  yet  been  able  to  secure  a  passage 
to  Europe  was  an  ever-present  trouble  to  me. 
VOL.  n.  18 


274  THE  NORTH  STAR 

In  spite  of  the  bright  clear  sky,  the  Mediterranean  Sea 
was  pretty  rough,  and  for  a  change  I  had  a  visit  from  my 
old  friend  Neptune,  who  once  more  shook  me  most 
unmercifully.  But,  enough  of  that !  Since  I  left  the 
peaceful  house  of  my  good  friends  in  Bombay,  I  had  not 
slept  well,  or  free  from  anxiety,  and  a  few  hours  of 
unbroken  sleep  were  a  charming  novelty  to  me,  making 
me  feel  like  a  new  creature. 

After  a  voyage  of  twenty  hours,  we  reached  Port  Said, 
where  it  was  very  hot,  and,  as  I  knew  we  should  touch 
there  again  on  our  way  back,  I  did  not  go  on  shore. 

On  the  morning  of  the  third  day,  after  leaving  Alex- 
andria, we  landed  in  Jaffa,  where  disembarkation  is  gen- 
erally very  difficult  and  often  dangerous,  the  steamers 
being  compelled  to  anchor  a  long  distance  from  the  land, 
on  account  of  the  rocks  and  the  shallowness  of  the  water. 
Generally  the  breakers  are  so  wild  and  powerful,  that  the 
greatest  caution  is  necessary  to  get  the  passengers  safely 
to  land  in  a  little  boat ;  and,  but  a  short  time  before,  an 
American  family,  father,  mother,  and  two  daughters,  who 
had  come  from  Alexandria  by  the  steamer,  had  met  their 
deaths  in  the  waves  which  capsized  their  boat  on  its  way 
to  the  shore.  The  breakers  were  very  powerful  on  the 
day  I  landed,  and  it  was  not  without  danger  that  we 
reached  the  beach. 

I  intended  to  rest  for  one  day  in  Jaffa,  and  as  the 
matron  of  the  hospital  at  Alexandria  had  given  me  a  let- 
ter of  introduction  to  the  Lady  Superior  of  a  French  con- 
vent in  Jaffa,  I  found  a  guide  who  took  me  there  at  once. 
The  Lady  Superior  was  a  most  polite  and  energetic 
Frenchwoman,  and  said  she  would  immediately  make 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  275 

arrangements  for  me  to  have  a  comfortable  rest.  She 
then  told  a  nun  to  take  me  to  the  Franciscan  Fathers.  I 
did  not  know  what  she  meant  by  that,  but  I  supposed 
their  permission  was  necessary  before  she  could  receive 
me.  I  followed  the  nun  from  the  convent  to  the 
monastery  of  the  Peres  Franciscans  /  my  guide  went 
straight  to  the  Pbre  Superieur,  and  that  gentleman  came 
and  told  the  porter  to  get  a  room  for  the  lady  pilgrim  (for 
me  in  fact). 

What !  I  exclaimed,  in  dismay,  am  I  to  sleep  in  a 
monastery  of  monks?  and  I  ran  away  from  the  P&re 
Superieur,  and  the  nun,  down  the  steps  of  the  entrance, 
into  the  street,  as  fast  as  I  could,  fearing  that  some  monk 
might  by  force  take  me  into  his  arms,  carry  me  to  a  cell, 
and  lock  me  up. 

The  nun  ran  after  me  laughing,  seized  me  by  the  dress, 
telling  me  that  female  pilgrims  were  received  in  all  the 
monks'  monasteries  in  Palestine,  and  assuring  me  that  the 
good  fathers  treated  ladies  very  well,  she  had  never,  she 
added,  heard  a  complaint.  I  replied,  that  I  had  no  doubt 
the  fathers  would  be  kind  to  me,  but  that  I  had  never 
before  heard  of  such  hospitable  monastic  gentlemen.  At 
that  the  nun  opened  her  eyes  wide,  and  said,  I  was  in 
Palestine.  I  now  understood  why  the  Rev.  Father  Pla- 
cide  Beige,  the  archbishop's  secretary  in  Alexandria,  had 
given  me  letters  to  the  Franciscan  Fathers  in  Jaffa  and 
Jerusalem,  of  which  letters  I  did  not  of  course  make 
any  use. 

The  Pere  Superieur,  a  short  man  with  a  long  beard, 
stood  at  the  gate  of  the  convent,  looking  after  me,  and 
laughing  at  my  fright,  whilst  I  disputed  with  the  good 


276  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

nun  who  wanted  to  take  me  back  to  the  monastery,  which 
I  firmly  resisted.  The  father  now  called  after  me  aloud, 
saying,  "  Come,  child,  we  receive  you  with  the  best  of 
heart."  I  returned  his  call  with  "  No,"  and  I  begged  the 
nun  to  show  me  the  road  to  the  residence  of  the  German 
consul,  and  she  was  kind  enough  to  accompany  me  there 
herself.  When  we  arrived  she  told  the  consul,  laughing 
heartily  all  the  while,  how  I  had  run  away  from  the 
JPere  Superieur.  The  consul  was  an  Armenian,  and, 
though  a  German  representative,  understood  not  a  word 
of  my  language.  I  therefore  asked  him,  in  English,  if  it 
was  true  that  female  pilgrims  were  received  in  monks' 
monasteries,  and  he  replied  with  a  smile,  "  Yes ;  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  female  pilgrims  lodge  at  the  Franciscan 
monastery;"  adding,  "you  probably  come  direct  from 
your  German  home,  and  have  never  heard  of  such  a 
thing." 

"  No,"  I  replied,  "  I  do  not  come  direct  from  my  home ; 
I  have  come  through  Europe,  America,  and  Asia,  but  I 
never  heard  of  this  anywhere  but  here." 

The  consul  then  said  I  was  in  Palestine ;  and  in  Pales- 
tine it  is  an  old  and  well-known  custom  for  female  pilgrims 
to  be  received  by  the  Franciscan  Fathers,  although  this 
custom  had  often  been  unfavourably  criticised.  But  there 
was  no  other  place  of  reception  for  pilgrims  in  Palestine 
than  the  Franciscan  monasteries,  and  they  were  therefore 
lodged  without  distinction  of  sex.  The  French  nun  un- 
derstood English,  and  she  listened  with  an  amused  face  to 
every  word  the  consul  said,  and  kept  on  asking  me  if  she 
should  take  me  back  to  the  Pere  Superieur  f  I  replied 
No,  very  positively,  but  thanked  her  for  her  kindness  in 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  277 

accompanying  me  thus  far,  and  smiling  she  took  her  leave. 

I  then  showed  the  "  Armenian  German "  consul  an 
official  letter  of  introduction  from  the  German  consul  in 
Alexandria,  and  he  offered  to  take  me  to  the  "  American 
settlement,"  where  some  German  Protestant  missionaries 
li ve,  and  where  I  should  very  likely  hear  of  an  opportunity 
of  going  on  to  Jerusalem  that  same  day. 

The  consul  then  took  me  at  once  to  Mr.  H.,  a  German 
missionary  and  colonist,  who  promised  to  see  about  my 
journey,  and  not  to  let  me  go,  except  under  the  most  re- 
liable escort. 

In  the  house  of  the  German  colonist  I  met  three  Amer- 
ican gentlemen  and  a  Greek  doctor,  who  had  come  to 
Jaffa  on  the  same  steamer  as  myself,  and  were  now  about 
to  start  for  Jerusalem.  I  had  not  spoken  to  any  of  them 
on  the  steamer,  so  that  I  did  not  yet  know  them.  But  I 
soon  became  acquainted  with  them  through  the  introduc- 
tion of  my  fellow  countryman,  and  they  unanimously 
declared  that  it  would  be  a  pleasure  and  an  honour  to  them 
to  protect  me  on  the  trip  to  Jerusalem,  and  to  bring  me 
safely  back  to  Jaffa. 

Horses,  saddles,  guides,  &c.,  were  engaged,  and  at  five 
o'clock  in  the  evening  we  mounted  and  rode  off.  But  oh, 
misery !  I  was  no  sooner  in  my  saddle  than  I  began  making 
the  most  painful  grimaces.  Woe,  woe,  to  tender  European 
bodies ;  woe  to  the  sensitive  European  bones  which  have 
to  ride  on  Arabian  saddles !  They  are  even  more  barbar- 
ous and  sharper  than  the  sharp,  barbarous  Japanese  saddles, 
and  I  advise  every  tender  European  pilgrim  who  goes  to 
Palestine  and  wishes  to  ride,  or  rather  who  must  ride,  to 
take  a  European  saddle  with  him,  and  not  to  trust  his 


278  THE  NORTH  STAR 

tender  body  to  an  Arabian  one.  There  are  no  means  of 
transport  between  Jaffa  and  Jerusalem,  Bethlehem,  Naz- 
areth, &c.,  but  horses  and  donkeys.  Sedan  chairs  are  very 
dear  and  are  but  seldom  used,  and  there  are  no  carriages, 
carts  or  post-chaises  in  this  mountainous  district.  It 
would  be  just  as  easy,  however,  to  import  and  to  use  such 
vehicles  here  as  in  the  mountainous  district  of  Java,  where 
the  roads  go  over  much  higher  mountains  than  any  in 
Judea  between  Jaffa  and  Jerusalem.  The  view  of  Jaffa, 
whether  from  the  harbour,  or  from  behind  the  town,  is 
extremely  picturesque.  It  is  built  on  sloping  rocks  in  the 
form  of  an  amphitheatre,  and  the  fortifications  consist  of 
a  strong  rampart  with  a  half -filled  moat,  and  a  good  many 
cannon. 

The  interior  of  the  town  has  a  melancholy  and  mo- 
notonous appearance,  for  the  streets  are  narrow  and 
extremely  dirty.  There  are  two  gates,  both  opening  to- 
wards the  East.  The  inhabitants  are  a  mixture  of  Latins, 
Greeks,  Armenians,  Maronites,  Protestants,  Jews,  and 
Mussulmen. 

Jaffa,  formerly  Joppa,  is  one  of  the  oldest  towns  of  the 
world,  and  according  to  tradition,  it  existed  before  the 
flood.  It  was  in  Joppa  that  Noah  built  his  ark,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  command  of  the  Lord ;  from  Joppa,  that 
Jonah  embarked  and  fled  to  Tarshish ;  and  to  Joppa, 
Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  brought  the  wood  from  Mount 
Lebanon  which  King  Soloman  used  in  the  building  of  the 
Temple  of  God  at  Jerusalem. 

Festus  took  possession  of  Joppa,  massacred  the  natives, 
and  burnt  the  town ;  the  Jews,  however,  rose  against  the 
Romans  and  rebuilt  it,  but  they,  in  their  turn,  were  given 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  279 

over  to  pillage,  for  Yespasian  besieged  the  Israelites, 
slaughtering  them  all,  and  converted  the  town  into  a  cita- 
del round  which  a  new  city  soon  sprung  up,  which, 
from  the  reign  of  Constantine,  until  the  inroad  of  the 
Arabs,  in  the  year  636,  was  the  seat  of  the  Roman  epis- 
copate. 

Captured  in  1099  by  the  Crusaders,  Jaffa  became  the 
seat  of  a  bishopric ;  and,  when  besieged  by  Saladin,  it  was 
rescued  by  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion.  Later  it  was  a  duke- 
dom in  the  possession  of  Duke  Henry  Madel,  a  brother  of 
Saladin,  who  had  all  the  fortifications  of  the  town  de- 
stroyed. But  after  it  was  taken  possession  of  by  the 
Emperor  Frederick  the  Second,  in  1229,  it  was  again 
converted  into  a  fortified  city.  In  1252  St.  Louis  of  France 
entered  Jaffa,  and  took  up  his  residence  on  a  neighbouring 
island  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  He  it  was  who  rescued 
the  Christians  imprisoned  in  Egypt,  and  collected  the 
corpses  of  the  slain  from  outside  the  walls  of  Cairo,  giving 
them  decent  burial.  In  1268  the  town  of  Jaffa  was  again 
destroyed  by  Barbarossa.  In  1654  the  first  convent  was 
founded  here  by  the  Franciscan  order,  the  monks  of  which 
lodged  the  pilgrims,  "male  and  female,"  who  visited 
Palestine.  In  1799  Jaffa  was  stormed  by  a  Christian 
army  of  "  bloodthirsty  "  Frenchmen,  who,  like  savages, 
massacred  4000  Turks  and  poisoned  all  lepers  without 
mercy;  and  in  1838  the  greater  part  of  this  ill-fated  town 
was  destroyed  by  an  earthquake.  On  the  road  between 
Jaffa  and  Jerusalem  we  passed  many  spots  which  must 
ever  be  sacred  alike  to  Jews  and  Christians.  After  pass- 
ing out  of  the  gate  of  the  town  we  followed  a  broad,  well- 
constructed  road  leading  in  a  south-easterly  direction,  and 


280  THE  NORTH  STAR 

bounded  on  either  side  by  fine  gardens,  planted  with, 
orange,  lemon,  and  pomegranate  trees.  "We  soon  came  to  a 
beautiful  wall  by  the  side  of  the  road,  surrounded  by  cy- 
presses and  sycamore  trees,  to  the  north  of  which  is  a 
garden  in  which  the  house  of  Tabitha,  whom  St.  Peter 
raised  from  the  dead,  is  supposed  to  have  stood.  From 
there  we  rode  for  another  mile  between  charming  gardens, 
and  came  to  the  fields  of  Sharon,  the  most  fruitful  in  the 
Holy  Land,  and  celebrated  as  being  the  scene  of  the  de- 
struction of  the  harvest  of  the  Philistines  by  Samson  when 
he  tied  the  firebrands  to  the  foxes'  tails  and  set  them 
free  amongst  the  ripe  corn.  As  we  approached  Ramleh, 
we  saw  the  tower  of  the  forty  martyrs  on  the  south,  and, 
at  some  little  distance,  our  guide  pointed  out  to  us  the 
town  of  Lydda  or  Diospolis,  the  birthplace  of  St.  George, 
who  suffered  martyrdom  at  Nicomedian  in  the  reign  of 
the  Emperor  Diocletian  in  the  year  304:.  Justinian  built 
a  church  at  Lydda,  and  had  the  martyr's  bones  brought  to 
his  early  home,  where  they  have  been  venerated  by  Chris- 
tians for  centuries.  I  had  read  the  legend  of  St.  George, 
who  is  the  patron  saint  of  my  birthplace,  so  that  I  was  fa- 
miliar with  the  name  of  Lydda,  and  was  glad  to  see  the 
home  of  the  great  martyr.  How  often  as  a  child  I 
stood  before  the  huge  image  of  St.  George,  in  our  church, 
looking  with  timid  wonder  at  the  holy  youth  driving  his 
spear  home  into  the  heart  of  the  furious  dragon.  For  many 
years  I  admired  the  stately  figure  of  the  patron  saint,  and 
I  loved  him,  and  throughout  my  childhood  whenever  we 
had  a  "  Kirmes,"  I  brought  St.  George  a  wreath  of  flow- 
ers, and  the  sexton  went  up  a  ladder  and  hung  it  on  the 
spear  of  the  bold  and  handsome  hunter. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  281 

To  the  south-west  of  Lydda  lies  Ramleh,  or  Arimathea, 
the  home  of  Joseph  and  of  Nicodemus,  who  buried  the 
body  of  our  Saviour.  Ramleh  was  visited  by  St.  Paul  in 
the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century,  and  near  to  it  the  Cru- 
saders were  defeated  by  the  Turks  in  a  bloody  and  terri- 
ble battle,  the  Dukes  of  Blois  and  Bourgogne  being 
amongst  the  slain.  It  was  on  the  same  occasion  that 
Baldwin  I.  fled  from  the  fury  of  the  battle,  and  hid  him- 
self in  the  high  grass  of  the  meadows,  but  the  Turks  set 
fire  to  the  grass,  and,  to  escape  suffocation,  he  had  to  take 
flight.  He  was  eventually  saved  by  an  Emir  and  taken 
by  him  to  A  sour. 

In  128Y  Ramleh  fell  into  the  hands  of  Saladin,  and 
later  it  was  the  head-quarters  of  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion. 
In  1296  the  Franciscans  built  a  convent  there  for  the  re- 
ception of  "male  and  female"  pilgrims;  later  on,  the 
monastery  was  the  bivouac  de  Vetat  major  of  General 
Bonaparte  during  the  French  expedition  to  Syria,  the 
church  of  the  convent  serving  as  a  hospital  for  wounded 
warriors.  After  Napoleon's  retreat  the  Mussulmen 
killed  all  the  monks  and  plundered  the  convent  and 
church. 

Ramleh,  formerly  a  celebrated  city,  with  twelve  fine 
gates  and  a  noble  castle,  is  now  an  unimportant  little 
town  of  about  4,000  inhabitants,  including  3,000  Mussul- 
men, 1,000  Grerks,  60  Catholics,  and  severel  Protestant 
missionaries.  We  rode  up  to  the  Franciscan  convent, 
where  a  monk  spread  a  good  supper  for  us,  the  gentlemen 
rewarding  him  for  his  kindness  by  a  liberal  payment, 
after  which  we  proceeded  on  our  journey.  By  the  light 
of  the  rising  moon  we  rode  across  the  fields  of  Sharon 


282  THE  NORTH  STAR 

towards  the  mountains,  and  I  thought  of  King  David,  of 
his  shepherd  Sekai,  and  of  the  many  royal  sheep  which 
once  browsed  and  bleated  in  these  fields.  After  we  had 
ridden  five  or  six  English  miles  beyond  Ramleh,  our 
horses  trotted  over  a  rocky  height,  forming  the  boundary 
of  the  fields  of  Sharon.  At  the  foot  of  a  mountain  on 
the  east,  we  now  saw  by  the  light  of  the  moon  the  village 
of  Beit  Nonba,  the  ancient  town  of  Nob,  the  town  of  the 
priests,  and  the  birthplace  of  the  High  Priest  Abimelech, 
who  gave  David  the  shewbread  and  the  sword  of  Goliath, 
and  who  was  murdered  with  eighty  other  priests  by  Saul 
the  persecutor  of  David. 

The  beautiful  mountains  of  Judea  commence  on  the 
borders  of  the  fields  of  Sharon,  and  on  the  left  lies  the 
village  of  Emmois,  formerly  called  Emmaus,  which  con- 
tains the  ruins  of  a  church  built  in  the  first  century,  and 
dedicated  to  the  seven  Maccabee  brothers,  and  their 
mother,  who  suffered  martyrdom  in  the  year  168  B.  c. 
under  Antroclius,  whose  general,  Georgias,  was  defeated  at 
Emmaus,  by  Judah  Maccabi.  In  a  beautiful  and  slightly 
undulating  valley  we  passed  the  well  of  Job,  which  is 
said  never  to  dry  up,  and  a  little  farther  we  reached  the 
"gate  of  the  valley."  It  was  now  midnight,  and  very 
cold,  we  therefore  dismounted  and  entered  an  Arab  cabin 
in  the  "gate  of  the  valley,"  where  we  partook  of  some 
hot  Mocha,  and  rested  a  little.  I  then,  for  the  first  time, 
complained  of  my  miserable  saddle,  for  really,  when  I  got 
off  my  horse,  I  could  have  screamed  aloud,  if  I  had  not 
been  ashamed  to  do  so.  The  gentlemen  tried  to  improve 
it  for  me,  and  told  me  their  own  were  no  better  than 
mine,  and  the  truth  of  which,  the  grimaces  they  had  made 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  288 

had  borne  ample  witness.  I  again  mounted  into  my 
sharp  and  barbarous  Arabian  saddle,  and,  after  we  had 
ridden  some  forty-five  or  fifty  minutes,  we  saw  by  the  light 
of  the  moonbeams,  the  ancient  olive  trees  of  Sanio,  and. 
as  we  ascended  a  pretty  steep  height  of  the  mountains  of 
Judea,  our  guide  pointed  out  the  Mediterranean  in  the 
distance.  It  was  a  beautiful,  peaceful  night,  and  my 
delight  at  standing  upon  the  mountains  of  Judea,  bathed 
in  the  full  glory  of  the  moonlight,  may  be  imagined ;  it 
was  an  awful,  a  mysterious  pleasure.  The  one  thing 
which  destroyed  the  sacred  charm  of  this  singular  night's 
journey,  was  my  great  dread  of  Bedouins,  for  I  had  heard 
that  a  week  before,  a  party  of  them  had  robbed  an 
English  family,  and  our  guide  gave  us  the  reassuring 
information  that  the  neighbourhood  was  very  unsafe. 
Here  and  there  the  shadows  of  some  bush  or  cavern 
assumed  weird,  uncanny  forms  in  the  gentle  beams  of 
Luna,  and  at  first  sight  I  took  them  for  nothing  else  than 
recumbent,  seated  or  standing  Bedouins  who  were  ready 
to  fall  upon  and  plunder  us.  And  yet  I  always  wanted 
to  ride  in  front,  for  I  felt  safer  there  than  behind  the  rest 
of  the  party,  as  I  had  a  horror  of  being  attacked  in  the 
rear  by  a  Bedouin. 

But  now  the  dawn,  the  blessed  dawn,  was  beginning  to 
break,  and  we  again  regaled  ourselves  with  Mocha,  in 
Kanath  el  Cnal,  a  vineyard  village.  It  was  a  very  cold 
morning,  and  as  I  was  thinly  clad,  I  felt  frozen.  "We 
now  rode  through  the  beautiful  vineyards  of  Baale, 
where  the  Tabernacle  of  God  rested  for  twenty-eight 
years  before  David  brought  it  to  Jerusalem,  1033  B.  c. 

Aurora  awoke,  and  how  beautiful  did  its  rising  appear 


284  THE  NORTH  STAR 

to  us  as  we  rode  higher  and  higher  towards  the  East ;  the 
glorious  orb  appearing  to  approach  nearer  and  nearer, 
and  descending  deeper  and  deeper  towards  us ;  never  had 
I  seemed  to  be  so  close  to  it ;  I  almost  fancied  I  could 
touch  it.  On  a  lofty  mountain  in  Judea  lies  Sonba,  for- 
merly Medina,  the  home  of  the  Maccabee  Brothers,  where 
Simon  Maccabi  built  seven  pyramids,  the  summits  of 
which  could  be  seen  from  the  Mediterranean,  over  the 
graves  of  his  father,  mother,  and  brothers. 

The  mountains  of  Judea  were  now  spread  out  before  us 
in  the  full  light  of  the  glorious  sunbeams,  which  lit  up 
ever  more  and  more  of  the  sacred  neighbourhood,  as  the 
great  luminary  rose  higher  and  higher.  The  view  was 
magnificent,  and,  in  spite  of  all  the  sufferings  caused  by 
my  barbarous  Arabian  saddle,  I  felt  as  proud  and  elated 
as  possible,  seated  on  my  little  brave  horse,  and  I  was  so 
happy,  so  very  happy.  We  had  now  reached  the  culmi- 
nating point  of  the  mountains  of  Judea,  and  saw  on  the 
north  the  home  of  the  prophet  Samuel,  called  Rama 
Saphun ;  ten  minutes  later  Ain  Karin  (St.  Jean  dans  les 
Montagues)  was  pointed  out  to  us  on  the  right,  and  then 
descending  a  mountain,  we  had  a  beautiful  valley  on  our 
right,  planted  with  orange,  lemon,  olive  trees  and  vines. 
A  little  farther  we  passed  the  bridge  of  the  brook  Tere- 
binth, from  which  David  took  his  seven  smooth  stones, 
and  it  was  in  the  valley  close  by  that  he  slew  the  Philis- 
tine. And  now  climbing  another  mountain,  what  did  I 
see  from  its  summit  ?  Looking  towards  the  east,  I  saw 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  from  which  Christ  ascended  into 
heaven,  whilst  on  the  right  lay  the  town  of  which  it  is 
written,  "But  thou,  Bethlehem  Ephratah,  though  thou 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  285 

be  little  among  the  thousands  of  Judah ;  yet  out  of  thee 
shall  He  come  forth  unto  Me,  that  is  to  be  Ruler  in 
Israel."  On  the  right  of  Bethlehem  we  saw  the  Greek 
seminary  called  the  convent  of  St.  Elie.  Farther  yet, 
and  farther,  until  we  saw  a  lofty  wall  rise  up  against  the 
clear  blue  sky  on  the  eastern  horizon,  and  that  wall  was 
the  mountains  of  Moab.  We  now  came  to  a  bend  in  the 
mountains  of  Judea,  and  I  saw  Jerusalem,  the  Holy  City. 
Involuntarily  I  drew  in  the  reins  of  my  horse,  for  I  felt 
tempted  to  dismount  and  kneel.  Yes ;  it  was  Jerusalem, 
the  Holy  City.  I  felt  exceedingly  glad  and  reverential. 
Heaven  had  granted  the  desire  of  my  heart.  I  was 
approaching  the  sacred  spot  where  my  Redeemer  died. 

How  gloriously  did  the  sun  shine  upon  this  favoured 
land ;  never  had  I  seen  it  appear  more  beautiful  than  here 
where  stood  the  cradle  of  the  Sinless  One,  and  the  blood- 
stained cross  of  the  purest  Man,  the  greatest  Teacher  ever 
sent  by  a  merciful  God  to  save  a  fallen  world. 

Nothing  that  I  had  seen  in  the  whole  universe  had 
affected  me  so  deeply,  or  so  solemnly,  as  this  sacred  and 
touching  view  of  Judea.  The  deserted  fields  and  sterile 
plains,  the  piles  of  stones,  relics  of  ancient  ruins,  with 
which  the  ramparts  of  the  hills  were  strewn,  the  melan- 
choly famine-stricken  scene  of  destruction,  all  combined 
to  testify  to  the  falling  of  the  curse  of  Heaven.  It  is  a 
picture  of  eternal  mourning,  and  it  gave  me  the  impres- 
sion of  a  land  never  again  to  be  clothed  with  green ;  never 
again  to  be  blessed  by  the  hand  of  God.  Before  I  saw 
the  mountains  of  Judea,  I  had  visited  many  famous  dis- 
tricts of  the  world,  but  I  know  of  none  which  I  could 
compare  with  them.  The  scene  is  unique  of  its  kind  ;  it 


286  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

is  beautiful,  because  it  is  sacred ;  it  is  grand  and  sublime, 
because  it  is  melancholy.  The  sight  of  the  Holy  City, 
and  its  memorable  neighbourhood,  stirs  the  heart  of  every 
Christian,  and  touches  the  cords  of  the  ineffaceable  asso- 
ciations connected  with  the  thought  of  the  Divine  Leader, 
whose  staff  is  the  support  of  oppressed  humanity,  and  of 
all  the  pure  and  true-hearted  men  who  follow  Him,  the 
wisest  of  all  teachers. 

In  imagination  I  was  transported  back  hundreds  of 
years.  Golgotha!  I  approach  thee,  and  soon — soon  I 
shall  kneel  on  the  sacred  spot  where  once  stood  the  holy 
cross,  and  where  the  Divine  Man  has  suffered  and  died 
for  us. 

We  were  now  but  a  few  steps  from  the  gate  of  the 
Holy  City,  and  having  fancied  it  to  be  a  large  town,  I 
was  surprised  to  find  it  so  small.  As  it  is  built  on  different 
heights,  and,  from  above  downwards  it  can  be  overlooked, 
looked  through,  and  looked  into.  A  lofty  wall  surrounds 
alike  the  highest  and  lowest  portions  of  the  town,  and 
when  within  the  walls,  a  stranger  who  has  seen  a  picture 
of  it  can  easily  recognise  the  most  prominent  buildings. 
Outside  the  Jaffa  gate,  on  the  left,  is  the  Russian  estab- 
lishment, consisting  of  consular  buildings,  a  cathedral,  the 
episcopal  palace,  two  houses  for  pilgrims  (a  superior  one 
for  high-born  pilgrims),  a  hospital,  and  several  residences 
for  doctors,  apothecaries,  &c. 

The  lofty  dome  of  the  church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
towers  above  all  other  palaces  and  churches  on  the  hill  of 
Gareb,  whilst  on  Mount  Moriah,  formerly  the  site  of  the 
Temple  of  Solomon,  glitters  the  cupola  of  the  Mosque  of 
Omar.  Jerusalem  is  built  on  five  hills,  of  which  Mount 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  287 

Sion  is  the  highest,  and  Mount  Akra  the  lowest.  Mount 
Moriah  is  the  so-called  "  chosen  portion."  Mount  Moriah, 
the  "  new  city,"  and  Mount  Gareb  the  Christian  quarter 
of  the  town. 

From  the  time  of  Solomon  to  the  death  of  Christ,  Je- 
rusalem stood  upon  three  hills,  but,  ten  years  after  that 
event,  Herod  Agrippa,  under  the  government  of  Claudius, 
laid  the  foundations  of  a  new  wall  which  enclosed  the  hills 
of  Bezetha  and  Gareb.  Jerusalem  is  situated  in  Lat.  31° 
47'  and  is  3927  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Dead  Sea. 

We  passed  the  Jaffa  gate  and  rode  up  to  the  Hotel  de 
la  Mediterranee,  near  the  gate  of  Damascus.  I  had  now 
ridden  forty  miles  on  horseback  in  a  barbarous  saddle,  and 
I  felt  dreadfully  tired,  shaken,  and  bruised.  True  to  my 
old  resolve,  I  did  not  intend  to  put  up  at  an  hotel,  and  I  was 
therefore  at  once  guided  to  the  German  hospice  of  the 
Knights  of  St.  John,  where  pilgrims  are  received  and 
entertained  on  reasonable  terms.  There  was  not,  however, 
one  pilgrim  there  at  the  time,  and  as  I  did  not  dare,  being 
a  lady,  to  make  excursions  in  and  about  Jerusalem  alone, 
I  was  obliged  to  go  to  some  place  where  I  could  join  other 
pilgrims  or  travellers.  I  did  not  choose  to  make  use  of 
my  letters  and  go  to  the  Franciscan  monastery,  and  as  the 
gentlemen  of  my  escort  had  asked  me  to  join  them,  I 
went  back  to  the  Hotel  de  la  Mediterranee.  To  my  de- 
light, I  found  that  the  owner  of  the  hotel  and  his  wife, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hornstein,  were  German ;  and  when  they 
heard  that  I,  their  fellow-countrywoman,  was  making  a 
journey  round  the  world,  they  treated  me  with  especial 
and  most  disinterested  kindness. 

With  the  help  of  our  host  the  gentlemen  engaged  a 


288  THE  NORTH  STAR 

dragoman  (interpreter  and  guide)  who  showed  us  the  most 
noteworthy  places  in  the  town  and  neighbourhood. 

Early  the  next  morning  we  went  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
and  visited  all  the  sacred  places  on  Mount  Calvary.  The 
church  is  built  on  the  mount  itself,  and  is  in  the  possession 
and  under  the  care  of  the  Turkish  government.  During 
the  night  the  keys  are  in  the  keeping  of  the  Turkish 
officials.  That  this,  the  most  important  church  of  Christ- 
endom, should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Turks  is  a  proof  of 
what  the  power  of  Christian  Europe,  or  I  may  say  of  the 
whole  Christian  world,  is  in  the  nineteenth  century.  Six 
different  Christian  sects  share  the  privilege  of  worshipping 
in  this  church,  and  each  perform  their  own  rights.  Roman 
Catholics  and  Greek  Catholics,  Armenians,  Copts,  Ethi- 
opians and  Syrians.  The  Catholic  priests  use  the  north 
end  of  the  church,  the  Greek  the  east,  the  Armenians  the 
south,  whilst  the  Copts  have  a  chapel  close  to  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  their  lodgings  being  on  the  west  of  the  church. 
These  four  sects  live  inside  the  basilica  itself,  but  the 
other  two  have  their  residences  outside. 

The  first  sacred  spot  shown  on  entering  the  church  is 
the  Stone  of  Unction  on  which  Joseph  and  Nicodemus 
laid  the  body  of  our  Lord,  and  annointed  it  with  costly 
ointment ;  and  near  to  it  the  place  is  pointed  out  where 
the  holy  women  stood  during  the  annointment.  At  about 
twelve  metres  distant  from  it  is  the  entrance  to  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  called  the  Angel's  Chapel,  and  in  it,  beneath  a 
large  and  beautiful  cupola,  is  the  sacred  grave  of  Jesus. 
To  the  north  is  the  chapel  of  St.  Mary  Magdalena,  en- 
closing the  spot  on  which  the  Redeemer  appeared  to  her 
in  the  form  of  a  gardener,  and  from  it  four  steps  lead  to 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  289 

the  chapel  of  the  Apparition,  on  the  left  of  which  is  a 
small  sacristy  in  which  some  Franciscan  monks  showed 
us  the  sword  of  Godfrey  de  Bouillon,  presented  to  the 
Franciscan  order  by  the  Bishop  of  Nazareth  in  the  third 
century.  To  the  north  of  the  sacristy,  there  is  a  dark 
chapel  in  which  Christ  and  the  two  thieves  are  said  to 
have  sat  in  bonds  whilst  the  cross  was  erected ;  and  to  the 
south-west  of  this  chapel  we  were  shown  the  spot  where 
the  executioners  cast  lots  for  the  robe  of  Jesus.  A  little 
farther  on,  twenty-nine  steps  lead  down  to  the  chapel  of 
St.  Helena,  in  which  I  saw  a  beautiful  painting,  the  gift 
of  the  late  Emperor  Maximilian  of  Mexico ;  the  chapel 
itself,  however,  is  the  property  of  the  Ethiopian  priests. 
Thirteen  steps  lower  down  is  the  chapel  of  the  Discovery, 
or  finding  of  the  Cross,  the  site  of  which  was  formerly 
occupied  by  a  cistern,  hewn  out  of  a  rock  on  Mount  Cal- 
vary. From  this  point  we  ascended  two  steps,  and  entered 
the  Greek  Chapel  on  our  left,  enclosing  the  spot  where 
the  Jews  crowned  our  Saviour  with  thorns,  and  some  sev- 
enteen metres  farther  on,  eighteen  steps  lead  up  to  the 
traditionary  Mount  Calvary,  with  the  chapel  of  Adam 
under  the  rocks.  On  the  right  of  the  entrance  to  this 
chapel,  is  the  grave  of  Godfrey  de  Bouillon,  and  on  the 
left  that  of  Duke  Baldwin.  Inside  the  chapel  there  is  a 
small  cleft  in  the  heart  of  the  rocks,  in  which,  according  to 
tradition,  rests  the  skull  of  the  first  man,  who  lived  and 
died  in  Judea  after  he  was  driven  out  of  Eden.  It  is  said 
that  Christ  suffered  martyrdom  upon  the  Cross  on  exactly 
the  same  spot  where  the  skull  of  Adam  lay  4000  years 
before.  The  chapel  of  Adam  was  formerly  a  cave  in 
which  the  high-priest  Melchisedec  is  supposed  to  have 
been  buried. 

VOL.  rr.  19 


290  THE  NORTH  STAR 

We  now  left  the  church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and, 
close  to  the  entrance  we  noticed  an  inscription  on  a  white 
stone  marking  the  grave  of  Philip  d'Aubigny.  The  out- 
side of  the  building  is  not  without  interest,  associated  as 
it  is  with  the  memory  of  the  Crusaders.  To  the  south,  a 
few  remains  of  a  stately  colonnade,  built  by  Constantine 
the  Great,  are  still  to  be  seen. 

In  the  afternoon  we  visited  the  citadel,  called  the 
Tower  of  David,  on  the  site  of  which  the  palace  of  that 
monarch  once  stood,  and  from  thence  we  went  to  the 
Armenian  convent,  which  is  built,  as  our  guide  informed 
us,  on  the  site  of  the  house  of  Caiaphas.  He  also  pointed 
out  to  us  the  site  or  the  house  of  St.  Thomas,  and  the 
high-priest  Anna,  and  took  us  to  the  Cenacle  ( guest- 
chamber),  built  by  St.  Helena,  in  which  he  showed  us  the 
place  once  occupied  by  the  room  in  which  our  Saviour 
took  the  last  supper  with  his  disciples. 

We  next  went  to  the  Christian  cemetery,  where  Romas 
Catholics  and  Greek  Catholics,  Armenians,  and  Protest- 
ants rest  in  one  churchyard ;  each  sect,  however,  having 
its  own  burial  place. 

On  the  second  day  we  rode  through  part  of  the  valley 
of  Jehoshaphat  to  Gethsemane,  and  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
and  from  there  to  Bethany.  On  this  trip  I  unfortunately 
had  a  very  tiresome,  vicious  horse,  and  an  accident  hap- 
pened to  me,  which,  however,  turned  out  a  lucky  one,  and 
was  not  nearly  so  bad  as  it  might  have  been.  When  I 
mounted  this  horse  it  was  very  restless,  and  dashed  and 
plunged  about  in  all  directions.  The  guide,  however, 
assured  me  that  it  was  a  good  horse,  and  would  soon  go  at 
a  quiet  and  regular  pace.  We  passed  along  the  Yia 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  291 

Dolorosa,  the  scene  of  the  Scala  Scanta,  and  out  at  St. 
Stephen's  Gate,  called  the  gate  of  the  valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat  by  the  Crusaders.     On  the  east  we  saw  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  on  the  west  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  in  which, 
according  to  the  prophecy  of  Joel,  the  Lord  will  judge 
the  world  at  the  last  day.     It  was  in  this  valley  that 
Abraham  received  the  King  of  Sodom  after  his  victory 
over  the  Assyrians,  1215  years  before  our  era.     Here 
Absalom  built  a  monument  to  immortalise  his  name, 
called  the  hand  of  Absalom ;  through  this  valley  David 
passed  on  foot  when  fleeing  before  his  son ;   and  our 
Saviour,  on  His  way  to  and  from  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
and  the  house  of  his  friends  at  Bethany,  must  many  a  time 
have  trod  its  paths.     The  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  at  the 
brook  Kedron,  Silome,  is  about  120  yards  wide,  and  it  is 
fifteen  miles  long.     It  commences  on  the  north-west  of 
the  Holy  City  near  the  tombs  of  the  Judges,  becomes 
narrower  above  Gethsemane,  and  where  it  joins  the  val- 
ley of  Hinnom  it  is  completely  spanned  by  the  brook 
Kedron.     On  the  right  of  the  valley  is  the  Fuller's  Field, 
Mount  Bezetha,  on  which  part  of  Jerusalem  is  built, 
Mount  Moriah  and  the  little  hill  of  Ophel ;  whilst  on  the 
left  are  the  Mount  of  Olives,  Mount  Scopas,  and  Mount 
Scandale.     In  the  valley  on  the  right  are  the  tombs  of 
Mussulmen,  and  on  the  left  those  of  Jews. 

We  now  rode  in  an  easterly  direction  and  passed  the 
brook  Kedron.  My  horse  was  very  skittish  and  wild, 
going  first  to  the  right,  and  then  to  the  left,  so  that  I  had 
the  greatest  trouble  to  guide  it.  At  a  little  distance  in 
front  of  me,  and  not  far  from  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane, 
I  saw  a  steep  ravine,  along  the  edge  of  which  skirted  our 


292  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

road.  Unfortunately,  just  as  my  horse  came  to  the 
dangerous  place  it  neighed  and  jumped  wildly  up  and 
down.  I  tried  to  guide  it  away  from  the  precipice  into 
the  road,  and  the  gentleman  nearest  to  me,  on  perceiving 
the  bad  temper  of  the  animal,  hurried  up.  But,  as  he  was 
in  the  very  act  of  seizing  the  bridle,  the  horse  dashed 
away  from  him,  and  flung  itself  backwards  over  the  high 
and  steep  declivity.  The  fall  of  the  horse  and  my  scream 
of  terror  promptly  brought  back  the  gentlemen  who  had 
ridden  on  ahead ;  but  I  was  already  lying  at  the  bottom  of 
the  ravine,  and,  thank  Heaven,  I  heard  the  breathless 
question,  "  Is  she  dead  ? "  "  Make  haste,  make  haste  and 
get  to  her,"  cried  the  Greek  doctor,  "  I  am  afraid  she  is 
dead ! " 

"  No ;  I  am  not  dead,"  doctor,  I  cried  from  the  depths 
of  the  abyss, "  but  I  am  wounded,  so  please  come  quickly ! " 
My  right  hand  and  arm  hurt  me  dreadfully,  and  I  was 
afraid  the  former  was  broken.  The  gentlemen,  however, 
could  not  get  down  quite  so  rapidly  as  I  had  descended, 
for  the  whole  of  the  long  slope  was  clothed  with  brambles 
and  thistles.  The  first  to  reach  my  side  was  the  doctor, 
who  pulled  and  stretched  and  tested  my  right  arm,  finally 
telling  me,  to  my  unbounded  delight,  that  it  was  not 
broken.  He  next  examined  my  head  and  found  neither 
a  wound  nor  a  drop  of  blood.  "  C'est  un  miracle"  he 
exclaimed,  in  the  greatest  astonishment;  for  the  horse 
had  fallen  in  such  a  manner  that  the  doctor  and  every  one 
else  thought  I  was  dashed  to  pieces.  I  now  told  them,  as 
far  as  I  knew  myself,  how  I  had  come  down  such  a  dis- 
tance into  the  precipice,  and  as  the  Greek  did  not  under- 
stand English,  I  repeated  my  account  to  him  in  French, 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  293 

after  giving  it  to  the  American  gentlemen  in  the  former 
language.  What  surprised  me  most  was  that  I  did  not 
know  how  I  got  out  of  the  saddle.  I  was  seated,  as  all 
ladies  are  on  horseback,  in  such  a  manner,  that  some 
preparation  was  required  to  get  out  of  the  saddle,  for  one 
foot  was  over  the  pommel,  and  one  foot  in  the  stirrup. 
My  preparation,  however,  was  very  short  on  this  occasion, 
and  I  think  my  guardian  angel  must  have  lifted  me 
out  of  the  saddle  at  the  very  moment  when  the  horse  fell 
backwards,  and  then  have  started  back  in  the  road  out  of 
fear  of  the  thorns  and  thistles,  whilst  I,  rescued  from  the 
peril  of  death,  was  left  to  roll  over  them  to  the  bottom  of 
the  ravine.  I  remember  distinctly  suddenly  finding  my- 
self lying  on  my  horse's  back,  and  rolling  over  with  it,  and 
that  when  I  was  uppermost  the  horse  was  under  me  and 
vice  versa.  The  entire  "  rolling  trip  "  was  uncommonly 
rapid,  and  in  the  last  twirl  the  horse  got  to  the  bottom 
first.  Indeed  he  was  on  his  feet,  looking  in  my  face,  and 
nibbling  the  grass,  whilst  I  was  still  lying  amongst  the 
thorns  and  thistles.  It  took  the  doctor  and  the  American 
gentlemen  a  long  time  to  pull  the  thorns  out  of  my  face 
and  hands,  and  meanwhile  my  right  arm  and  hand  became 
much  swollen  ;  my  first  finger  was  terribly  painful,  and 
for  several  months  afterwards  it  remained  numb  and  use- 
less. The  doctor,  who  was  a  very  religious  man,  looked 
up  again  and  again  at  the  place  from  which  I  had  had  such 
an  awful  fall,  and  said  my  narrow  escape  was  certainly  a 
miracle.  He  was  afraid,  however,  that  fever  would  result 
from  the  severe  shaking  I  had  had,  and  wanted  to  take 
me  back  to  Jerusalem  to  rest  and  recruit ;  but  I  assured 
him  that  I  felt  well  enough  to  go  on,  for  we  only  intended 


294  THE  NORTH  STAR 

to  stay  five  days  in  Jerusalem,  and  our  excursions  had 
been  so  portioned  out  that  if  I  did  not  see  Gethsemane,  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  and  Bethany,  on  the  day  in  question,  I 
should  not  see  them  at  all,  which  I  should  have  regretted 
all  my  lif e.  My  right  arm  was  too  painful  for  me  to  let 
it  hang  down  as  usual,  so  the  doctor  made  me  a  sling  in 
which  I  rested  my  swollen  hand.  Of  course  I  did  not 
m'ount  my  unruly  horse  again ;  in  fact,  the  saddle  was 
broken,  and  had  been  found  by  an  Arab  in  a  bramble  bush 
half  way  down  the  ravine,  and  how  I  got  out  of  it  was  an 
important  question  to  the  good,  punctilious  doctor.  But 
it  was  his  firm  opinion  that  a  supernatural  power  had 
rescued  me  from  death,  and  I  told  him  it  was  my  guardian 
angel,  whom  God  had  sent  to  escort  and  protect  me  on  all 
my  roads  around  the  world.  But  the  owner  of  my  surly 
steed  entered  into  the  details  of  my  narrow  escape  less 
piously,  and  he  demanded  twenty  francs  for  the  miserable 
saddle  I  had  broken,  but  my  countryman,  the  landlord  of 
the  hotel,  soon  sent  him  about  his  business.  During  the 
accident  in  the  precipice,  some  Arabs  who  had  hurried  up 
had  stolen  my  new  parasol,  which,  considering  the  power 
of  the  sun,  was  almost  indispensable.  One  of  the  gentle- 
men, however,  gave  me  his  umbrella,  and  we  went  on  to 
the  cave,  a  stone's  throw  from  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane, 
which  is  shown  as  the  scene  of  our  Lord's  agony  on  the 
eve  of  his  crucifixion,  when  "  His  sweat  was  as  it  were 
great  drops  of  blood."  Near  to  the  cave  stands  a  Roman 
Catholic  church  in  which  is  the  grave  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
and  in  which  Queen  Mellisenda,  wife  of  Fulk,  King  of 
Jerusalem,  is  also  said  to  be  buried.  There  has  been  much 
jealousy  and  disputing  in  every  century  as  to  the  owner- 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  295 

ship  of  this  church  amongst  the  different  Christian  sects. 
In  the  seventeenth  century  the  Greek  non-conformists 
accused  the  Franciscan  fathers  of  having  sold  the  body  of 
the  Yirgin  Mary  for  a  large  sum  to  the  then  reigning  Pope 
of  Rome,  and  the  Latins  were  consequently  driven  out  of 
the  church,  which  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  Greeks. 
In  1660,  the  French  ambassador  M.  de  la  Haye  received 
full  powers  over  the  church,  and  it  was  now  the  turn  of  the 
Greeks  to  be  turned  out.  In  1740,  however,  the  Greeks 
dispossessed  the  Franciscan  fathers,  who,  in  1757,  on  the 
interference  of  the  French  envoy,  Duke  de  Yergennes, 
again  got  the  upper  hand,  to  be  dispossessed  by  their  old 
rivals  two  years  later. 

At  the  time  of  my  visit,  as  I  was  informed  by  a  Ger- 
man monk  at  Gethsemane,  the  Franciscans  had  received 
full  powers  from  the  Sultan  to  use  the  church,  but  the 
Greeks  used  it  also  without  any  such  full  powers ;  at  least, 
so  the  monk  told  me,  and  I  could  not  help  thinking  how 
absurd  such  perpetual  quarrelling  was  in  so  sacred  and 
consecrated  a  spot. 

The  Cave  of  Agony  is  seven  steps  below  the  church  of 
the  cemetery  of  the  Yirgin  Mary,  and  is  lighted  through 
an  opening  in  the  rock.  There  is  an  altar  on  the  spot, 
where,  according  to  tradition,  our  Saviour  knelt  in  His 
agony,  at  which  the  Franciscan  monks  daily  perform 
mass. 

From  the  Cave  of  Agony  we  entered  the  Garden  of 
Gethsemane  itself,  where  I  counted  eight  very  venerable 
olive  trees,  the  very  ones,  according  to  tradition,  and  the 
popular  belief,  beneath  which  the  Divine  Man  wandered 
to  and  fro,  and  which  were  witnesses  of  His  love  and  of 


296  THE  NORTH  STAR 

His  suffering.  The  garden  is  surrounded  by  a  strong  wall, 
and  is  very  carefully  and  tastily  kept,  being  planted  with 
sweet-scented  flowers  and  vegetables.  I  picked  a  little 
branch  from  one  of  the  olive  trees,  and  the  Franciscan 
monk,  a  German,  who  had  charge  of  the  garden,  gave  me 
a  beautiful  bunch  of  flowers. 

On  my  last  visit  to  the  Tomb  of  Christ  I  laid  both  the 
olive  branch  and  flowers  upon  it,  and  then  took  them  home 
for  my  dear  mother. 

In  the  east  of  the  garden,  the  spot  is  shown  where  our 
Saviour  asked  His  three  dearest  disciples  to  watch  and 
pray ;  and  a  stone's  cast  farther  off,  that  on  which  He  knelt 
when  He  prayed  the  Father  to  remove  from  Him  the  cup 
of  suffering. 

Whilst  I  was  in  the  garden  my  right  hand  and  arm  had 
swollen  very  much.  I  was  in  the  most  terrible  pain  and 
already  very  feverish,  so  much  so  that  the  Greek  doctor 
doubted  whether  I  could  go  any  farther.  But  I  could 
not  bear  to  give  up  all  that  I  might  see  on  this  one  day, 
and  we  ascended  the  Mount  of  Olives  in  an  easterly 
direction,  my  ill-tempered  horse,  now  at  liberty  and  tame, 
walking  behind  us.  On  our  way  up,  we  stood  upon 
the  spot  where  our  Lord  wept  over  the  faithless  city.  The 
Mount  of  Olives  is  on  the  east  of  Jerusalem,  and  is  2,555 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  Dead  Sea. 

Christ  spent  one  night  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives  ;  and 
Titus,  during  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  encamped  the 
soldiers  of  the  tenth  legion  upon  it. 

On  his  arrival  at  Jerusalem,  Tancred  went  alone  to  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  and  whilst  he  was  sadly  gazing  towards 
the  Holy  City  he  was  surprised  by  five  Mussulmen,  of 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  297 

whom  he  killed  three  and  put  two  to  flight.  Before  they 
attacked  Jerusalem,  the  Crusaders  sang  a  litany  on  the 
same  sacred  mountain. 

As  we  reached  the  plateau  of  the  mountain  we  entered 
a  small  building  on  the  south,  enclosing  the  spot  from 
which  our  Saviour  ascended  up  to  Heaven  in  the  jresence 
of  His  mother,  the  apostles,  and  many  of  the  disciples. 
According  to  Willebrand  d' Oldenburg,  who  visited  the 
Mount  of  Olives  in  1211,  this  building  was  erected  by  a 
pious  Mussulman ;  near  to  it  is  a  fine  minaret  and  the 
lodging  of  a  dervish  who  let  us  ascend  the  former  for  a 
baksheesh.  A  flight  of  steps  brought  us  to  a  small 
balcony  from  which  we  obtained  a  magnificent  view.  On 
the  west  the  eye  rests  upon  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat, 
the  sacred  city  of  Jerusalem  enclosed  in  all  its  length  and 
breadth  in  an  amphitheatre,  and  I  was  able  to  see  the  outer 
wall  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  now  the  Mosque  of 
Omar.  To  the  south  is  the  Mount  of  Offence,  and  more 
to  the  west  the  road  to  Bethlehem,  the  Greek  seminary 
of  St.  Elie,  the  valley  of  the  Giant  and  the  Hill  of  Evil 
Counsel.  Beyond  these  on  the  south  is  the  Valley  of 
Hinnom  and  the  Field  of  Aceldama,  whilst  on  the  east 
the  wastes  of  Judea  stretch  away  to  the  Jordan  and  the 
Dead  Sea;  above  which  rises  like  a  rampart  a  1-ong 
majestic  chain  of  mountains,  forming  the  background  of 
the  fascinating  scene.  The  mountains  of  Moab  form  the 
southern  portion  of  this  chain  of  hills,  and  the  Dead  Sea, 
spread  out  like  a  deep  blue  veil  on  this  side  of  the  rocky 
wall,  is  most  distinctly  visible  in  a  westerly  direction. 

The  French  Princess  de  la  Tour  d'Auvergne  built 
herself  a  little  villa  on  the  southern  side  of  the  Mount  of 


298  THE  NORTH  STAR 

Olives  which,  however,  she  seldom  inhabits.  On  the  north- 
east of  the  mountain  is  a  little  chapel,  on  the  wall  of  which 
we  saw  the  Lord's  Prayer  written  in  thirty  different 
languages,  and  the  reverend  father  in  charge  of  the 
Garden  of  Gethsemane,  who  accompanied  us  to  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  pointed  out  to  us  a  Christian  cemetery  on  the 
north,  which  encloses  nine  graves  hewn  out  of  the  rock, 
and  is,  as  he  informed  us,  one  vault  of  the  old  Benedictine 
monastery  built  on  its  site  by  Charlemagne. 

We  now  turned  towards  Bethany,  and  about  400  yards 
to  the  south-east,  we  were  shown  the  site  of  Bethphage, 
whence  Christ  sent  two  disciples  who  brought  him  an  ass 
and  a  colt  for  the  journey  to  Jerusalem.  In  Bethany  we 
visited  the  grave  of  St.  Lazarus,  entered  by  a  small  low 
door  from  which  a  dark  flight  of  steps  gives  access  to  a 
subterranean  passage,  with  three  steps  at  the  north  end, 
leading  down  to  a  narrow  mausoleum,  said  to  be  the  tomb 
of  Lazarus.  The  atmosphere  was  stifling,  and  I  crept 
back  into  the  open  air  as  quickly  as  I  could.  Every  trace 
of  the  church  built  by  St.  Helena  above  this  grave  has 
now  disappeared.  Forty  yards  to  the  south  of  the  tomb 
of  Lazarus  is  the  site  where  the  house  of  Mary  Magdalene 
and  Martha  once  stood,  and  where  Christ  taught  Martha 
the  "  one  thing  needful." 

From  Bethany  we  went  over  the  Mount  of  Olives 
passing  alongside  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane  to  the  Valley 
of  Jehoshaphat.  Here  the  first  object  seen  of  note,  is  the 
so-called  grave  of  Absalom  killed  by  Joab  in  the  war  with 
his  father,  and  buried  in  a  deep  pit  on  the  east  of  the 
river  Jordan,  on  the  authenticity  of  which  considerable 
doubt  has  been  thrown.  The  tomb  as  it  was  when  we 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GHOSH.  299 

saw  it  is  a  monolithic  monument,  hewn  in  the  rock,  with 
four  openings ;  one  to  the  north,  one  to  the  south,  one  to 
the  east,  and  one  to  the  west.  The  decorations  consist  of 
four  pilasters  on  which  rests  a  crown  of  a  cylindrical  form. 
The  interior  of  this  tomb  is  completely  filled  with  stones, 
which,  according  to  tradition,  were  cast  upon  the  grave  by 
the  Jews,  as  a  mark  of  their  abhorrence  of  the  conduct  of 
the  rebellious  son,  and  have  never  been  removed.  Near 
to  the  grave  of  Absalom  is  that  of  Jehoshaphat,  who, 
however,  is  said  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  to  have  been 
buried  in  the  City  of  David,  and  on  the  south  of  the 
latter,  are  those  of  St.  James,  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  and  of 
Zacharias ;  the  last,  however,  is  also  reverenced  as  that  of 
the  wife  of  Pharaoh.  About  200  yards  to  the  south  is 
the  Mount  of  Offence,  so  called  because  Solomon  there 
erected  "high  places"  to  the  service  of  the  gods  of  his 
wives,  thus  offending  against  the  people  of  Israel.  One 
of  these  places  of  the  worship  of  idols  is  still  to  be  seen, 
headed  witli  a  spire,  surmounting  a  cornice  and  a  rock-cut 
roof  in  the  shape  of  an  ass.  We  proceeded  farther  and 
came  to  the  well  of  Yirgin  Mary  at  the  foot  of  Mount 
Ophel,  in  which  our  guide  and  the  Franciscan  father  told 
us  Mary  washed  her  infant's  swaddling  clothes  during  her 
visit  to  the  house  of  the  old  man  Simeon.  The  residence 
of  St.  Simeon  is  now  called  the  "  cradle  of  Jesus  Christ." 
Near  to  the  well  of  the  Virgin  is  the  pool  of  Siloam. 
"We  now  passed  along  the  brook  Kedron  ;  to  the  right  of 
the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  on  the  left  of  the  Royal 
Gardens,  we  were  shown  the  hill  Ophel,  above  which  is 
situated  the  village  of  Siloam.  The  gardens  of  Siloam 
in  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat  are  the  only  ones  in  the 


300  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

whole  district,  in  which  green  vegetables  may  be  seen  all 
the  year  round.  Our  next  point  of  interest  was  the  pool 
of  Siloam,  where  Christ  healed  the  blind  man.  South- 
west of  the  pool  of  Siloam  a  path  leads  up  to  the  Mount 
of  Sion.  This  path  formerly  bore  the  name  of  "the 
steps  to  the  City  of  David,"  the  steps  being  cut  out  of 
the  rocks  of  Sion.  About  130  yards'  distance  from  the 
hill  Ophel  and  the  Mount  of  Sion  is  the  pool  of  Solomon, 
where,  at  the  order  of  Manasses,  the  Prophet  Isaiah  suf- 
fered martyrdom.  We  were  also  shown  the  fountain 
"  En  Rogel,"  where  the  Israelites,  before  being  carried  to 
Babylon,  hid  the  holy  fire,  as  ordered  by  the  Prophet  Jer- 
emiah. It  is  near  this  fountain,  where  Adonijah  gave  a 
great  feast  to  his  followers,  who  had  assembled  to  make 
him  King,  against  the  will  of  his  father,  King  David, 
who,  on  the  same  day,  proclaimed  Solomon  King  of  all 
Israel.  We  saw  the  pool  of  Nehemiah,  near  which  is  a 
deep  ravine,  named  the  valley  of  the  son  of  Hinnom.  In 
this  valley  the  Israelites  worshipped  the  god  Moloch  with 
various  rites,  and  human  sacrifices.  Manasses,  King  of 
Judah,  caused  his  son  to  pass  through  the  fire  of  Moloch. 
The  Prophet  Jeremiah,  followed  by  the  elders  and  the 
priests,  obeying  the  command  of  the  Lord,  went  to  the 
valley  of  Hinnom,  where  he  broke  an  earthen  vessel,  say- 
ing :  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  Lords  —  I  will  destroy  this 
people  and  this  city  like  this  earthen  vessel,  and  it  shall 
not  be  rebuilt. 

Near  by  I  saw  the  place  of  the  encampment  of  "  Pom- 
pey  "  which  Titus  afterwards  surrounded  with  a  wall,  in 
order  to  imprison  the  Jews.  Our  road  back  to  Jerusalem 
led  us  across  the  field  of  "  Aceldama ;"  we  ascended  a 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  301 

small  hill  and  stood  in  the  field  which  was  bought  with 
the  blood  of  our  Saviour.  The  Empress  Helena  enclosed 
the  field  with  a  high  wall,  and  sent  several  vessels  loaded 
with  the  soil  of  "  Aceldama  "  to  Campo  /Santo  in  Rome. 
During  the  crusades  this  field  was  the  property  of  the 
Knights  of  St.  John. 

On  the  South  we  passed  a  long  line  of  small  houses, 
belonging  to  Sir  Moses  Montefiore,  the  well-known  Jew- 
ish banker  and  philanthropist,  who  lodges,  gratuitously, 
his  co-religionists.  After  a  long  and  very  tiresome  walk 
we  reached  our  hotel.  In  consequence  of  my  fall  I  felt 
very  unwell ;  not  only  my  right  hand  and  arm,  but  also 
my  face,  head  and  neck  were  very  much  swollen.  I  could 
not  undress  myself,  and  my  kind  landlady  engaged  an 
Arab  woman  to  wait  upon  me. 

The  Greek  doctor,  who  had  offered  to  take  me  back  to  the 
hotel  after  my  fall,  now  gave  me  a  very  fatherly  scolding 
for  not  obeying  him.  I  listened  to  him  quite  patiently, 
as  I  never  object  to  the  scolding  of  any  gentleman,  when 
done  pleasantly. 

The  Arab  woman,  through  the  night  and  the  following 
day,  repeatedly  bathed  my  swollen  limbs  with  a  solution 
of  sugar  of  lead,  and  the  good  Greek  doctor  administered 
some  medicine  to  allay  the  fever.  On  the  second  day  I 
was  able  to  leave  my  room,  although  the  Arab  woman 
had  to  dress  me,  and  with  my  right  arm  in  a  sling,  I  went 
to  Mr.  Hornstein,  requesting  him  to  engage  a  good  horse 
for  me,  that  I  might  ride  to  Bethlehem.  But  neither  my 
good  countryman  nor  the  over-anxious  Greek  doctor  would 
grant  me  permission  to  do  so  ;  but  at  length  they  had  to 
yield  to  me,  and  Mr.  Hornstein  engaged  a  trusty  guide, 


302  THE  NORTH  STAR 

charging  him  to  lead  my  horse,  and  never  leave  my  side. 
The  Greek  doctor  and  the  Franciscan  monk,  who  had 
shown  us  through  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  accompanied 
me  to  Bethlehem.  I  mounted  my  horse,  with  my  right 
arm  in  a  sling,  suffering  intensely  at  every  movement  of 
the  animal.  The  trip  from  Jerusalem  to  Bethlehem  may 
be  made  in  one  hour  on  horseback,  but  it  took  me  more 
than  two  hours,  as  I  had  to  go  on  an  ordinary  pace.  Our 
road  led  through  the  gate  of  Jaffa,  and  having  on  our  left 
the  Mount  of  Evil  Counsel  and  the  valley  of  Gihon,  we 
entered  the  road  of  Hebron,  one  of  the  five  Royal  roads 
leading  from  and  into  Jerusalem.  The  road  Hebron  runs 
through  the  Giants'  Valley  —  the  valley  where  King 
David  twice  defeated  the  Philistines.  A  little  farther  on, 
in  a  small  ravine,  is  the  place  where  David,  after  a  vic- 
tory over  the  Philistines,  destroyed  their  idols.  At  five 
minutes'  distance  we  passed  the  fountain  of  the  "  Three 
Wise  Men,"  where,  according  to  tradition,  they  had  lost 
the  star  on  their  way  to  Herod.  On  their  way  from  Jeru- 
salem to  Bethlehem  they  rested  near  this  fountain,  where 
again  they  saw  the  star,  which  guided  them  to  the  man- 
ger of  the  Infant  Saviour. 

Here  we  had  a  splendid  view  of  Jerusalem  and  Bethle- 
hem. The  town  of  Bethlehem  is  situated  on  a  stony 
mountain,  lying  846  metres  above  the  Mediterranean.  It 
is  surrounded  by  beautiful  valleys,  many  venerable  olive 
and  cypress  trees,  and  stretches  from  west  to  east.  The 
earliest  foundation  of  Bethlehem,  called  in  olden  times 
"  Ephratah  "  (the  fruitful),  is  lost  in  the  darkness  of  ages. 
The  existence  of  this  town  is  known  since  1740  B.  c. ;  the 
Bethlehem  of  the  present  time  is  a  small  town  of  5,000 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  803 

inhabitants.  The  Franciscan  showed  us  the  spot  where 
an  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  to  the  Prophet  Habakkuk 
and  led  him  to  Daniel  in  the  lion's  den  at  Babylon,  540 
B.  c.  On  the  right  of  a  beautiful  olive  grove  is  situated 
the  convent  of  St.  Elias.  The  building  is  in  the  style  of 
a  fortress  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  was  built  by  Heraclius 
in  the  seventh  century. 

On  a  high  hill  we  saw  a  tower  where  it  is  said  Jacob 
raised  his  tent,  and  where  Rachel,  after  the  birth  of 
Benjamin,  gave  up  the  ghost.  Farther  on  to  the  right, 
in  the  cemetery  of  the  Mussulmen  of  Bethlehem,  is  the 
tomb  of  Rachel,  built  by  Jacob.  This  monument,  in  the 
form  of  the  back  of  an  ass,  is  seven  to  eight  yards  long, 
surmounted  by  a  beautiful  cupola,  resembling  a  mosque. 
This  tomb  was  restored  several  years  ago  by  Sir 
Moses  Montefiore,  and  is  held  in  high  honour  by  both 
Jews  and  Mussulmen.  Many  women  of  both  sects 
visit  the  tomb  of  Rachel,  to  pray  for  the  blessing  of 
fruitfulness. 

The  last  historical  spot  on  the  road  to  Bethlehem  is  the 
fountain  of  David,  to  the  left  of  the  fields,  at  the  entrance 
of  the  town.  The  Royal  Prophet,  facing  his  soldiers,  who 
were  encamped  near  the  cave  of  Aullam,  and  longing 
ardently,  said :  "  Oh  that  one  would  give  me  drink  of  the 
well  of  Bethlehem,  which  is  by  the  gate !  And  the  three 
mighty  men  brake  through  the  host  of  the  Philistines,  and 
drew  water  out  of  the  well  of  Bethlehem,  that  was  by  the 
gate,  and  took  it,  and  brought  it  to  David.  Nevertheless 
he  would  not  drink  thereof,  but  poured  it  out  unto  the 
Lord,  and  he  said:  Be  it  far  from  me,  O  Lord,  that 
I  should  do  this :  is  not  this  the  blood  of  the  men  that 


304  THE  NORTH  STAR 

went  in  jeopardy  of  their  lives  ?  therefore  he  would  not 
drink  it." 

Now  we  had  reached  the  convent  of  the  Franciscans, 
in  which  is  the  grotto  of  the  Infant  Saviour.  Our  guide, 
the  Franciscan,  let  us  first  into  the  dining-room  and  intro- 
duced us  to  the  Rev.  Father  Superior,  who  offered  us  some 
good  Bordeaux.  (Where  monks  are,  there  is  wine.)  Our 
guide  had  repeatedly  told  me  on  the  road  not  to  say  in  the 
convent  that  I  was  a  German,  and  to  my  surprise  he  now 
introduced  me  to  the  Superior  as  an  English  lady.  But  I 
understood  what  he  said  in  Italian,  and  addressing  the 
Superior,  I  remarked,  "  IZeverendissime,  io  sono  Tedesco 
non  Inglese"  The  Superior  raised  his  hand  reproach- 
fully to  the  monk,  who,  blushing,  replied,  "  he  did  not 
know  it,  but  thought  I  was  English."  This  was  a  false- 
hood, for  the  monk  was  from  Austria,  and  had  conversed 
with  me  only  in  German,  and  I  was  desirous  of  knowing 
why  he  had  denied  my  nationality.  His  reason  was,  as  I 
learned,  the  Franco-Prussian  war.  The  greater  number 
of  the  Franciscan  order  in  Palestine  are  French  and  Italian. 
The  Superior  General  in  Jerusalem,  as  our  guide  told  me, 
is  an  Italian,  and  hates  the  Prussians ;  and  in  order  to  get 
the  permission  to  go  with  me  to  Bethlehem,  he  told  his  Su- 
perior that  I  was  English ;  because  if  he  had  said  I  was  a 
German,  the  Superior  would  not  have  given  him  permission 
to  go  with  me.  This  falsehood  appeared  to  me  as  wrong 
as  it  was  ridiculous,  and  the  more  so  from  the  lips  of  an 
ecclesiastic. 

We  visited  first  the  grotto  of  the  Infant  Saviour,  which 
is  in  charge  of  the  Franciscans.  Our  guide  led  us  through 
a  subterranean  passage  into  the  grotto,  in  which  fifteen 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  305 

candles  are  kept  burning  night  and  day.  Of  these  candles 
four  belong  to  the  Franciscans,  jwe  to  the  Armenians, 
and  six  to  the  Greeks.  A  circle  in  the  eastern  corner  of 
this  grotto  marks  the  spot  of  the  Saviour's  birth.  Two 
Franciscan  monks  watch  alternately  this  sacred  place.  In 
the  grotto  the  Latins,  as  well  as  the  Armenians  and  Greeks, 
read  mass  daily.  On  one  side  of  the  grotto  three  steps 
led  down  to  the  Oratory  of  the  Cradle.  East  of  this  Ora- 
tory is  an  altar,  dedicated  to  the  "  Three  Wise  Men," 
above  which  is  a  beautiful  painting  of  the  Magi  by 
"  Maello."  Another  painting  by  the  same  master  repre- 
sents the  Christ-child  in  the  cradle.  On  the  west  side  of 
the  Oratory  is  a  cradle  hewn  out  of  the  rock.  The  two 
Franciscans  who  were  keeping  watch  in  the  grotto  were 
both  Germans. 

One  of  them  told  me  he  had  come  from  Rome  a  short 
time  ago,  where  he  had  been  serving  as  a  Zouave  in  the 
Papal  army.  He  was  by  trade  a  baker,  and  when  Victor 
Emanuel  entered  the  Eternal  City,  the  Papal  troops  were 
scattered  all  over  the  world,  and  he  came  to  Palestine, 
where  he  was  received  as  a  baker-monk  in  the  Franciscan 
convent  at  Bethlehem.  To  judge  from  his  countenance, 
this  reverend  countryman  of  mine,  who  kept  guard  in  the 
grotto  of  the  Infant  Saviour,  was  a  wild,  reckless  fellow  ; 
and  it  seemed  to  me  that  he  had  shown  his  shrewdness  in 
leaving  places  where  he  was  too  well  known.  I  had  often 
heard  of  what  the  Papal  army  was  composed,  and  I  met 
several  of  such  stragglers  who  had  been  volunteers  in  that 
army,  all  having  the  stamp  of  "  good-for-nothings "  and 
vagabonds. 

On  one  side  of  the  subterranean  passage  five  steps  led 
VOL.  n.  20 


306  THE  NORTH  STAR. 

us  into  the  chapel  of  the  Holy  Innocents,  where,  according 
to  tradition,  Herod's  soldiers  killed  the  babes  in  presence 
of  their  mothers,  who  were  buried  beneath  the  altar.  On 
the  north  of  this  dark  passage  is  the  grave  of  Eusebius, 
and  on  the  west  the  grave  of  St.  Jerome.  All  these  sub- 
terranean places  we  saw  by  candle  light. 

We  left  the  convent  and  rode  to  the  grotto  of  the 
Shepherds,  half  a  mile  east  of  Bethlehem.  The  grotto  is 
an  old  chapel,  on  the  site  of  a  former  church,  built  by  the 
Empress  Helena,  on  the  spot  where  the  angels  of  the 
Lord  announced  to  the  shepherds  the  birth  of  our  Sav- 
iour. We  walked  up  and  down  for  a  while  in  the  shade 
of  the  beautiful  olive  trees  in  this  solitary  field,  and  then 
returned  to  Bethlehem.  Near  the  town  is  a  small  plain, 
called  the  field  of  Boaz,  where  Ruth,  the  beautiful  Moa- 
bite,  gleaned  wheat,  and  where  Boaz  declared  his  love  to 
her.  Boaz,  unlike  many,  remained  faithful  and  married 
her.  Obed,  then*  son,  was  the  grandfather  of  King 
David. 

On  the  south  of  Bethlehem  is  the  Milk  grotto,  so  called 
because  the  Virgin  Mary,  when  fleeing  from  the  persecu- 
tion of  Herod,  sought  refuge  here  before  her  flight  to 
Egypt.  Here,  while  nursing  the  Christ-child,  some  drops 
of  milk  fell  upon  a  stone  in  the  grotto.  This  grotto,  also 
called  the  Miraculous  grotto,  is  honoured  by  Catholics, 
Schismatics  and  Turks,  whose  women  come  here  to  offer 
prayers  to  the  Holy  Virgin.  Several  Turkish  women 
came  in,  while  we  were  there,  kissed  the  miraculous  stone 
on  which  the  milk  had  dropped,  and  prayed  fervently. 
The  miraculous  stone  is  chalky,  breaking  easily.  These 
women  carried  small  pieces  of  it  away  with  them,  to  dis- 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  807 

solve  in  water  and  drink,  while  praying  to  the  Holy  Yir- 
gin.  I  was  told  that  many  had  obtained  grace  and  the 
blessing  for  which  they  had  prayed.  But  I  was  surprised 
that  this  miraculous  stone,  from  which  for  so  many  centu- 
ries small  pieces  have  been  taken,  is  still  in  existence. 

We  attended  Vespers  in  the  Armenian  chapel,  which  is 
in  the  Church  of  the  convent  of  the  Franciscans,  which 
church  is  the  common  property  of  the  Latins,  Armenians 
and  Greeks.  Here,  too,  I  noticed  among  these  different 
sects  who  officiate  in  this  church,  much  jealousy.  The 
Catholic  monks  and  Armenian  priests  passed  each  other 
like  strangers. 

I  mounted  my  horse  again,  and  we  returned  to  Jerusa- 
lem. On  the  way  back  our  monk,  a  real  chatter-box,  gave 
us  very  minute  details  of  their  mode  of  life  in  the  con- 
vent of  the  Franciscans.  To  believe  this  truthful  monk, 
he  and  his  brothers  lead  a  life  free  from  all  care,  and  they 
journey  to  heaven  on  an  easy  road.  The  Superior,  as  he 
told  us,  receives  large  contributions  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  convent  from  Catholics  all  over  the  globe,  and  the 
Emperor  of  Austria,  on  his  visit  to  the  Holy  Land  at  the 
opening  of  the  Suez  canal,  left  a  present  of  60,000  francs 
with  the  Superior.  There  are,  as  we  were  informed  by 
the  good  monk,  150  in  the  convent,  and  sometimes  many 
more.  These  pious  gentlemen,  having  renounced  the  con- 
version of  the  Jews  and  Turks  of  Palestine,  devote  them- 
selves exclusively  to  pilgrims  (male  and  female),  doubtless 
a  very  laudable  work.  But  how  much  time  there  is  left 
the  monks  to  be  idle.  Many  of  them  were  brought  up  as 
mechanics,  and  many  things  necessary  in  the  convent  are 
manufactured  there.  There  are  among  these  Franciscans 


308  THE  NORTH  STAR 

professional  cooks,  butlers,  brewers,  bakers,  butchers,  tai- 
lors, shoe-makers,  carpenters,  architects,  and  even  artists. 
These  gentlemen,  the  monk  said,  have  to  pray  at  certain 
hours,  and  to  work  at  certain  hours,  daily ;  an  hour's 
prayer  is  equivalent  to  an  hour's  work.  As  regards  my- 
self, said  our  chatty  guide,  while  looking  smilingly  at  me, 
I  prefer  an  hour's  prayer  to  an  hour's  work.  There  are, 
as  I  could  easily  learn  from  this  never-silent  monk,  many 
among  them  who,  never  having  learned  any  trade  or  art, 
have  left  their  homes  as  deposed  priests,  laymen  or  rogues, 
and  taken  refuge  in  some  convent  of  Palestine  to  hide 
their  disgrace.  These  convents,  where  so  many  have  found 
refuge,  and  under  the  garb  of  piety  have  crept  into  the 
church,  are  rather  more  like  taverns  for  the  re-union  of 
knavish,  characterless  individuals,  than  a  worthy  retreat 
from  the  sinful  world.  Indeed,  the  sinful  world  is  quite 
as  well  represented  in  them  as  in  the  houses  of  correc- 
tions and  the  penitentiaries  in  other  countries.  I  could 
more  readily  believe  what  our  guide  told  us,  because  sev- 
eral mornings  I  had  been  to  the  Sacristy  of  the  Francis- 
cans in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  in  Jerusalem, 
where  I  saw  many  monks,  some  of  whom  had  said  mass, 
and  others  preparing  for  mass.  The  demeanour  of  these 
priests,  without  one  exception,  was  very  irreverent,  and 
their  conversation  with  each  other  not  only  disgusting,  but 
immoral.  Every  one  seemed  a  picture  of  a  reckless,  dis- 
solute fellow,  his  features  bearing  the  stamp  of  low, 
vicious  life ;  all  reeked  with  the  fumes  of  wine  and  liquor, 
all  inhaling  the  vapour  of  sin  and  lust. 

While  conversing  about  convent-life,  we  had  reached 
Jerusalem,  and  as  it  was  Friday,  the  day  on  which  it  is 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  30& 

customary  for  the  Jews  of  Jerusalem,  between  four  and 
five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  to  gather  before  the  old 
walls  of  Solomon's  Temple,  we  took  advantage  of  this 
occasion  to  go  to  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  whose  old  wall  is 
all  that  remains  of  the  once  glorious  temple  of  Solomon. 

Here  we  witnessed  a  truly  melancholy  scene;  many 
Jews,  some  poorly,  others  richly  clad,  assembled  in  a 
email,  narrow  street,  before  the  eastern  wall  of  the  Mosque 
of  Omar — the  sole  remaining  relic  of  Solomon's  Tem- 
ple— and,  throwing  themselves  on  the  ground,  intoned  a 
most  touching,  mournful  prayer,  broken  by  audible  sobs 
and  heartfelt  lamentations.  They  bewailed  their  persecu- 
tions, the  wrongs  they  had  suffered  so  many  centuries, 
all  expressive  of  the  deepest  sorrow,  as  they  wept  like 
children. 

The  length  of  this  old  wall  is  about  90  feet ;  the  thick- 
ness is  enormous,  measuring  12  feet.  I  succeeded  in 
getting  a  piece  of  this  wall,  which  a  respectable-looking 
Jew  presented  to  me  as  a  relic.  He  and  his  co-religion- 
ists, amid  demonstrations  of  the  highest  respect,  tears  and 
prayers,  repeatedly  kissed  the  wall  of  Solomon.  I  was 
deeply  moved  by  these  pious  acts  —  this  expression  of  the 
firm  faith  of  a  people  who  were  once  God's  chosen  ones 
—  this  faith,  which  has  descended  from  generation  to 
generation,  a  living  witness  to  the  truth  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture. 

I  requested  a  Jew,  who  spoke  French,  to  give  me  a  copy 
of  the  prayer  he  prayed,  which  I  give  below. 

The  Rabbi  —  For  the  sake  of  the  desolate  palace. 

The  People  —  We  sit  solitary  and  weep. 

The  Eabbi  —  For  the  Temple's  sake,  which  is  destroyed. 


310  THE  NORTH  STAR 

The  People  —  "We  sit  solitary  and  weep. 

The  Rabbi  —  For  the  sake  of  the  walls,  which  are 
broken  down. 

The  People  —  "We  sit  solitary  and  weep. 

The  Rabbi  —  For  the  sake  of  our  past  greatness. 

The  People  —  "We  sit  solitary  and  weep. 

The  Rabbi  —  For  the  sake  of  our  great  men,  thy 
servants,  who  are  dead. 

The  People  —  We  sit  solitary  and  weep. 

The  Rabbi  —  For  the  sake  of  the  precious  stones, 
which  are  burned. 

The  People  —  We  sit  solitary  and  weep. 

The  Rabbi  —  For  the  sake  of  our  priests,  who  have 
stumbled. 

The  People  —  We  sit  solitary  and  weep. 

The  Rabbi — For  the  sake  of  our  kings,  who  scorned 
them. 

The  People  —  We  sit  solitary  and  weep. 

Thanking  the  Jew  heartily,  we  left  this  interesting 
group,  my  heart  deeply  moved  for  this  long-suffering  race. 

As  already  stated,  the  Mosque  of  Omar  is  situated  on 
Mount  Moriah,  the  site  of  Solomon's  Temple.  It  was  on 
Mount  Moriah,  too,  where  Abraham  led  his  son  Isaac  to 
offer  him  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  Lord,  1822  B.  c.  The  Mosque 
of  Omar  is  the  holiest  sanctuary  of  the  Mahommedans ; 
formerly  Christians  were  not  allowed  to  enter  this  Mosque ; 
recently,  however,  they  are  permitted  to  enter  the  sanc- 
tuary. Owing  to  the  want  of  time,  our  visit  was  a  short 
one,  seeing  only  the  most  remarkable  places. 

The  last  morning  I  was  in  Jerusalem,  I  went  early  to 
the  church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  knelt  down  in  the 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  311 

chapel  of  the  Angels,  performed  my  devotions  and 
received  the  holy  communion.  This  holy  morning  hour 
in  the  church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  in  Jerusalem,  was 
the  most  elevating,  the  most  beautiful  hour  in  my  journey 
round  the  world.  And  the  thoughts  and  memories  of  my 
visit  to  the  Holy  Land  are  to  me  a  lif e-long  joy  —  a  life- 
long happiness. 

In  the  chapel  of  the  Angels  I  offered  a  fervent  prayer 
for  all  my  beloved  ones,  recommending  my  poor  protegee 
whom  I  had  left  in  Alexandria,  and  myself  to  our  heav- 
enly father ;  and  I  prayed  Him  to  let  His  angel  guide  us 
safely  to  the  place  of  our  destination. 

My  Greek  friend  had  gone  to  his  own  chapel,  and  there, 
from  the  hands  of  the  Greek  patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  one 
of  the  oldest  and  most  revered  dignitaries  in  Christen- 
dom, he  received  the  Bread  of  Life. 

With  the  saddest  feelings,  I  must  admit,  that  the 
church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  in  Jerusalem  is  the  most 
unclean,  and  the  one  in  which  the  least  reverence  is 
shown,  of  any  Christian  church  I  had  ever  entered.  In 
the  East  there  are  many  filthy  and  neglected  temples  of 
Buddha ;  but  no  Buddha  temple  of  the  far  East  can  com- 
pare with  this  neglected  temple  of  Christ  in  Jerusalem. 
Many  pilgrims  draw  back  with  indignation  from  this  hal- 
lowed spot ;  and  I  heard  many  curses  and  maledictions 
against  the  dirty  priests  in  charge  of  the  church,  whose 
laziness,  immorality  and  hypocrisy  pollute  the  atmosphere 
of  Calvary.  This  state  of  things  is  rather  too  little 
known. 

Whoever  goes  to  the  Holy  Land,  does  well  to  write 
nothing  about  "  this  state  of  things,"  but  he  does  better 


312  THE  NORTH  STAR 

to  speak  the  naked  truth,  so  that  the  Christian  world  may 
learn  what  it  neglects,  and  know  how  low  and  corrupt 
the  Christians  are,  who,  under  the  Capuchin  cloak  and 
stole,  are  but  the  rotten  guard  of  honour  of  Christ's 
temple 

I  do  not  know  of  any  synagogue,  of  any  Buddhist  or 
Confucius  temple  being  the  property  of  any  other  sect, 
and  of  which  the  keys  are  not  in  the  possession  of  those  to 
whom  they  belong.  And  why  ?  I  here  would  ask  the 
monarchs  and  the  rulers  and  every  Christian  of  the  West- 
ern world,  why  are  the  keys  of  the  church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  in  Jerusalem  in  the  hands  of  the  Turks  ? 

Jerusalem,  which,  at  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
numbered  150,000  inhabitants,  has  to-day  little  more  than 
20,000,  of  which  8,000  are  Jews,  7,500  Mahommedans, 
2,800  Greeks,  1,500  Latins,  and  a  small  number  of  Prot- 
estants, Armenians,  Copts,  Ethiopians  and  Syrians. 

The  streets  of  Jerusalem,  if  one  may  call  them  so,  are 
very  narrow  and  filthy,  and  covered,  for  the  most  part, 
with  a  neck-breaking  pavement.  Nearly  all  the  dwellings 
of  the  Jews  and  Turks,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  pal- 
aces, and  some  hotels  and  houses  of  the  better  classes, 
have  a  poor,  disconsolate  look.  Moreover,  one  sees  in  the 
streets  throngs  of  Jews  and  Turks  clothed  in  rags  and 
tatters,  and  almost  everywhere  there  are  the  most  offensive 
odours.  The  small,  dirty  city  of  Jerusalem  in  Palestine 
is  a  miniature  picture  of  large,  dirty  Pekin  in  China. 
But,  in  spite  of  all  that  may  be  said  of  the  characteristics 
of  the  city,  or  of  the  church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and 
the  repulsive  appearance  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  city, 
Jerusalem  is,  nevertheless,  the  most  sacred,  the  most 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  318 

majestic  and  the  most  important  city  of  the  Orient. 

Jerusalem  is  held  sacred  by  the  Jews,  who  here  were 
once  in  possession  of  their  temple,  the  temple  of  the 
Lord,  and  who,  until  this  very  day,  honour  and  kiss  the 
stones,  the  only  memento  of  that  sanctuary. 

Jerusalem  is  held  sacred  by  the  Christians,  for  here 
was  perfected  by  the  God -Man  the  work  of  their  Re- 
demption. 

Jerusalem  is  held  sacred  by  the  Turks,  for  the  Mosque 
of  Omar  contains  the  stone  on  which  Jacob  rested  when 
beholding  the  mysterious  ladder,  and  this  stone  is  their 
holiest  treasure. 

And  Jerusalem,  this  wonderful  relic  of  antiquity, 
excites  our  interest  still  further,  dating,  as  it  does,  its  be- 
ginning way  back  in  the  dim  ages,  immediately  succeeding 
the  deluge,  called  '  Salem '  by  its  founder,  Melchisedec, 
that  King  and  Priest  whose  beginning  and  end  are  un- 
known —  that  Priest  of  the  Most  High,  who,  after  bring- 
ing bread  and  wine  to  Abraham,  the  friend  of  God,  and 
blessing  him,  disappeared  for  a  thousand  years,  and  is 
then  remembered  as  the  type  of  David  and  the  Mes- 
siah. 

Saturday  morning,  at  half -past  six  o'clock,  we  left  Jeru- 
salem, and  I  gave  my  very  best  thanks  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hornstein  for  their  friendly  and  hospitable  entertainment. 
From  the  beautiful  heights  of  Judea  I  looked  back 
again  and  again  at  the  Holy  City ;  I  felt  gratified  and  I 
felt  sad. 

Jerusalem !  thou  sittest  solitary,  poor  and  neglected, 
although  around  thee  still  linger  the  memories,  pride 
and  affection  of  God's  first  chosen  people ;  although  the 


314  THE  NORTH  STAR 

eves  of  all  Christians  turn  to  thee  with  love  and   adora- 

t/ 

tion  as  the  place  where  the  mercy,  beauty  and  majesty 
of  God  were  revealed  to  man.  Ages  upon  ages  have 
rolled  away  since  Solomon  laid  the  immense  walls  for  thy 
foundation  < —  laid  them  immovable  for  all  time  ;  and 
still  they  endure  immovable  as  at  the  beginning ;  thou 
art  fading  from  my  sight,  while  I  am  repeating  after 
David: 

"  If  I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  for- 
get her  cunning.'* 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS  315 


CHAPTER  VIL 

OUR  return  to  Jaffa  was  a  hard  trip ;  the  heat  was  in- 
tense, my  hand  and  arm  pained  me  very  much,  and  again 
I  had  to  sit  on  a  barbarous  saddle,  as  I  could  not  get  a 
civilised  one. 

But  this  time  my  kind  host  had  provided  me  with  a 
gentle  Arabian  steed  —  who  seemed  to  know  the  suffer- 
ings of  his  precious  load — for  he  bore  me  along  in  a 
pensive  mood  and  with  slow  and  careful  steps.  I  had  on 
my  right  my  kind  and  attentive  Greek  friend,  and  on  my 
left  an  Arab  guide ;  the  former,  with  a  supreme,  happy 
face,  and  beaming  eyes,  was  pouring  out  to  me  the  glad- 
ness of  his  heart  in  plain  and  modest  French. 

While  descending  the  mountains  of  Judea,  I  will  give 
a  few  words  of  general  advice  to  such  of  my  readers  who 
might  have  a  desire  and  the  opportunity  of  visiting  the 
Holy  Land  of  Palestine. 

The  best  season  of  the  year  to  undertake  the  journey 
are  the  months  of  March  and  April.  The  heavy  rains, 
which  usually  fall  during  the  months  of  December  and 
January,  and  sometimes  in  February,  make  it  very  un- 
pleasant to  visit  Palestine  at  that  time  of  the  year. 


316  THE  NORTH  STAR 

It  is  not  advisable,  and  even  dangerous,  to  travel  in 
Palestine  in  the  months  of  August,  September  and  Octo- 
ber, on  account  of  the  fevers  prevailing  then,  being  caused 
by  the  extreme  heat  of  the  day  and  the  freshness  of  the 
nights.  It  is,  as  we  learned  on  our  return  journey,  very 
imprudent  to  travel  by  night,  at  any  time  of  the  year,  un- 
less it  be  under  the  protection  of  reliable  and  well-armed 
guides.  The  roads  are  very  unsafe ;  robbers  and  Bedouins, 
it  seems,  are  a  curse  to  this  "  once  blessed  land,"  and  an 
ever-present  trouble  to  the  visitors  of  Palestine.  Just  now, 
on  approaching  Ramleh,  we  are  passing  a  long  file  of  armed 
Bedouins  on  horseback,  and  the  mere  sight  of  them  — 
though  the  lovely  sun  is  shining  full  in  their  hideous 
faces  —  makes  me  tremble  in  every  nerve,  and  I  keep 
close  to  my  faithful  Greek  friend  and  our  Arab  guide, 
who  looks  a  Bedouin  himself  (perhaps  a  deserter  of  the 
savage  tribe). 

We  dismounted  at  the  Franciscan  convent  in  Ramleh, 
and  were  served  a  good  dinner  by  one  of  the  monks.  The 
inhabitants  of  this  and  other  convents  of  the  same  Order 
in  Palestine  bear  the  dignified  and  all-comprising  title  of 
"Les  Peres  de  Terre  Sainte"  (The  Fathers  of  the  Holy 
Land). 

Late  in  the  evening  we  reached  Jaffa,  and,  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  we  took  the  steamer  for  Alexandria.  At 
"  Port  Said  "  I  went  on  shore  and  ascended  the  Pharos, 
which  formerly  the  Egyptians  called  one  of  the  seven 
wonders  of  the  world,  but  to-day  the  Pharos  is  no  longer  a 
wonder.  Port  Said  offers  nothing  of  interest ;  the  town 
has  an  unfinished,  or  rather  a  provisory  appearance ;  the 
French,  the  "  Cafe  de  Paris,"  and  a  few  merchants  from 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  317 

other  countries  play  the  only,  but  insignificant  role. 

Here  the  Greek  doctor  left  us  and  went  to  Cairo ;  on 
the  next  morning  I  landed  in  Alexandria. 

I  had  been  away  for  nine  days,  and  how  often  I  had 
thought  of  my  poor  protegee  during  that  time !  I  now 
hurried  to  the  hospital  as  quickly  as  I  could ;  the  nuns 
had  not  expected  me  back  so  soon,  and,  as  the  gate 
stood  open,  I  went  in  and  gained  my  room  unnoticed, 
the  door  of  which,  however,  1  found  locked.  I  knocked, 
but  no  one  answered,  and  like  a  flash  of  lightning,  it 
struck  me  that  poor  Miss  Cosserat  must  be  dead.  I  went 
to  find  the  sister  who  had  charge  of  her,  and,  on  my 
questions  as  to  how  Miss  Cosserat  was,  and  why  the  door 
was  locked,  she  only  replied,  with  freezing  coldness  and 
most  ill-tempered  expression,  "  All  1  can  do  with  her  is 
to  lock  her  in,  and  if  I  don't  lock  her  in,  she  gives  me 
too  much  trouble." 

The  cross  sister  then  unlocked  the  door,  and  my  charge, 
who  was  lying  on  the  floor  with  nothing  on  but  the  dress 
of  nature,  sprang  up  to  meet  me  in  wild  delight.  "  Oh, 
dear  Miss  Weppner,"  stammered  the  poor  creature, "  why 
did  you  leave  me  ?  I  wept  for  you ;  I  called  after  you ; 
my  heart  was  breaking ;  I  was  dying  of  longing  for  you." 
And  her  laugh,  as  she  clasped  me  closely  in  her  arms,  was 
terrible,  for  it  betrayed  a  dangerous  joy.  She  took  my 
hand,  and  a  cry  of  pain  burst  from  my  lips,  for  the  poor 
distracted  thing  pressed  it  with  such  force,  that  I  thought 
she  was  breaking  all  the  bones  and  bursting  all  the  veins. 
It  was  only  with  the  help  of  one  of  the  female  attendants 
and  a  nun  that  I  was  able  to  tear  myself  away  from  her 
wild  and  cruel  caresses.  But  her  mad  grief  showed  me 


318  THE  NORTH  STAR 

again  that  the  poor  thing  knew  and  understood  my  kindness 
well  enough.  The  woman  watching  the  patients  by  night 
told  me  how  the  unhappy  girl  had  wandered  about, 
lamenting  and  calling  for  me  aloud.  It  made  me  think  that 
there  must  have  been  no  kind  soul  to  tend  or  care  for  her 
in  the  convent  at  Blankipore,  Patna,  for  on  her  arrival 
in  Bombay,  the  lunatic  certainly  bewailed  not  one  of 
those  she  had  left. 

My  poor  charge,  who  undoubtedly  felt  some  affection 
for  me,  now  wandered  up  and  down  the  room,  moaning 
and  complaining.  "  I  wrote  to  you  three  times,"  she  said, 
in  a  threatening  tone.  "  I  begged  your  pardon  three  times, 
and  you  did  not  answer  me.  My  brain  is  on  fire,"  she 
went  on,  "  you,  Miss  Weppner — you  always  gave  me  water 

to  quench  it,  but  these Catholic  sisters  never  gave 

me  a  drop  of  water  to  quench  the  fire  and  cool  my  head." 

Poor  creature !  I  saw  at  the  first  glance  that  she  had 
been  neglected,  and  that  the  cross  sister  had  let  the  charge 
of  the  lunatic  fall  upon  her  as  lightly  as  possible.  I  at 
once  missed  the  chief  requisite  in  the  miserable,  dirty 
room,  and  that  was  fresh  air,  and  I  was  very  indignant 
when  I  found  that  the  window  had  been  fastened  so  that 
it  could  not  be  opened.  From  the  ill  smell  prevailing  at 
my  entrance,  I  could  not  but  conclude  that  the  invalid 
had  had  no  fresh  air  since  I  had  left  her.  It  was  very 
hot,  and  it  was  no  wonder  that  she  complained  of  her 
brain  burning  in  such  a  close  pestilent  atmosphere.  I 
begged  the  sister  to  have  the  window  opened  at  once, 
for  neither  poor  Miss  Cosserat  nor  I  could  live  in  such  air. 
As  for  me,  the  contrast  between  the  fresh  sea-breezes  and 
this  pestilent  closeness  was  too  great  not  to  affect  me 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  319 

seriously.  It  made  me  sick,  and  I  had  to  go  into  the  gar- 
den until  the  room  had  been  cleaned  and  aired. 

The  invalid's  bed  was  in  an  indescribable  condition ;  and 
her  wardrobe,  which  I  had  left  in  the  best  order,  was  all 
cut  about  and  torn,  even  her  last  pair  of  boots  being  cut. 
I  now  had  the  large  nailed  trunk  opened,  which  the  nuns 
had  sent  from  Patna  to  Bombay,  hoping  to  find  all  that 
was  necessary  in  it ;  but,  to  my  disappointment,  enormous 
though  it  was,  it  contained  nothing  but  a  thick  and  heavy 
woollen  wrapper,  two  feather  pillows,  some  old  flannel,  an 
old  stuff  dress,  and  a  small  box  of  Windsor  soap ;  the  whole 
not  being  worth  half  the  sum  that  I  had  paid  for  the 
freight  of  the  heavy  box  through  Egypt.  So  I  had  it 
nailed  down  again,  and  dressed  poor  Miss  Cosserat  in  some 
of  my  own  clothes,  which  she  wore  until  the  end  of  her 
journey. 

I  had  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  lunatic  spoke 
the  truth  when  she  complained  that  no  one  had  ever 
given  her  a  drop  of  water;  for,  she  herself  and  the 
pestiferous  room  were  both  in  a  most  dirty  and  slovenly 
state.  Positively  heroic  patience  was  necessary  to  wash 
her  and  get  her  really  clean,  and,  to  attain  my  end,  I 
used  the  most  laughable  means.  Miss  Cosserat  was  very 
proud  of  pretty  ribbons,  and  I  sacrificed  the  best  I  had  to 
entice  her  into  a  bath.  I  gave  her  two,  and  she  twisted 
them  round  her  head  and  neck,  and  feet.  I  then  walked 
before  her  with  another  pretty  ribbon,  tempting  her  to 
follow  me,  and,  finally,  with  my  stockings  and  boots  on, 
she  stepped  into  the  tub.  I  managed  to  give  her  a 
thoroughly  good  scrub ;  and  then  to  get  her  out  of  the 
water  again,  I  had  to  give  up  three  more  ribbons,  which 


320  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

were,  however,  all  cut  out  of  one  long  piece.  It  was, 
indeed,  quite  a  solemn  matter,  for  the  poor  invalid  dis- 
cussed the  respective  merits  of  velvets  and  silk  ribbons  in 
the  most  important  and  finest  language,  and  lengthened 
out  the  arrangement  of  them  for  hours.  I  finished  my 
arduous  task  with  many  a  sigh,  for  the  bath  had  taken  four 
hours,  but  I  was  well  satisfied  with  the  result  of  my  labours, 
as  the  poor  creature  was  now  perfectly  clean  and  thoroughly 
refreshed. 

But  I  had  no  sooner  got  rid  of  the  nuisance  of  un- 
cleanliness,  than  the  lunatic  became  very  dangerously 
disposed  towards  me,  and  I  had  to  save  myself  by  flight. 
A  fit  of  her  old  and  peculiar  love  for  me  came  on,  and  she 
seized  my  hand  in  a  convulsive  grasp,  repeating  her  ter- 
rible declaration  of  affection.  "  Oh,  how  much  I  love 
you ;  how  I  should  like  to  murder  you !  She  then  clutched 
at  my  throat,  and  if  I  had  not  put  out  all  my  strength, 
and  flung  her  off,  she  would  certainly  have  strangled  me. 
At  this,  my  enraged  friend  flew  at  me  in  a  truly  savage 
manner,  spitting  at  me,  throwing  at  me  everything  she 
could  lay  hands  on,  and  calling  me  all  manner  of  names. 

I  had  not  a  single  hour's  rest  the  first  night  after  my 
return  from  Palestine,  for  I  had  to  be  constantly  on  my 
guard,  and  fearing,  as  I  did,  for  my  very  life,  it  was 
impossible  to  sleep. 

The  Lady  Superior  of  the  hospital,  as  had  been  the  case 
in  all  the  convents,  was  only  anxious  to  be  rid  of  the  poor 
lunatic,  and  she  sent  two  of  her  most  eloquent  nuns  to 
Baron  H. ,  the  director  of  the  Austrian  Lloyd's  Steamship 
Company.  These  nuns  did  more  than  I  could  have  dared 
to  do,  for  they  stated  that  my  charge  was  not  dangerous. 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  321 

"  The  director,"  said  the  pious  Lady  Superior,  "  knows  us, 
and  he  knows  that  we  nuns  speak  the  truth."  But  all  the 
time  this  shrewd  lady  knew  well  enough  that  neither  she 
nor  her  nuns  were  speaking  the  truth.  The  Austrian 
Baron,  however,  was  a  good  Catholic,  who  looked  upon 
the  nuns  as  elect  and  sinless  women,  so  he  believed  what 
they  said,  and  now  granted  the  passage  which  he  had 
refused  to  me  three  weeks  before.  I  went  to  him,  paid  for 
two  berths  from  Alexandria  to  Trieste,  and  received  the 
tickets.  It  was  Wednesday,  the  7th  of  June,  and  on  Sun- 
day, the  llth,  the  steamer  Minerva  was  to  sail  for  Trieste,  so 
that  I  had  still  four  long  harassing  days  and  nights  to 
remain  in  my  confined  and  wretched  room  in  the  hospital. 
The  English  consul,  well  aware  to  how  many  accidents 
and  annoyances  I  should  be  subjected  as  the  companion  of 
a  lunatic,  gave  me,  by  way  of  precaution,  a  letter  bearing 
the  seal  of  the  English  consular  court  of  Alexandria,  and 
stating,  in  legal  form,  that  I  had  full  legal  power  to  take 
charge  of  and  accompany  Miss  Cosserat.  The  letter  was 
written  by  the  Judge  of  the  Consulate,  and  ran  as 
follows : — 

"  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Consular  Court  of  Egypt, 

"Alexandria,  10th  of  June,  1871. 
"  To  Miss  Margaretha  Weppner, 

"  European  Hospital,  Alexandria. 
"  Madam, 

"  After  having  seen  the  young  lady  under  your 

charge,    and    read    her    father's    letters    and    telegrams 

addressed  to  yourself  —  in  company  with  Dr.  Makee,  the 

consular  physician  at  this  place  —  I   have  no  hesitation 

VOL.  n.  21 


322  THE  NORTH  STAR 

in  saying  that  you  are  properly  and  lawfully  authorised, 
under  all  circumstances,  in  continuing  your  kind  protection 
to  her,  and  in  assisting  her  to  reach  the  destination  of  her 
journey.  I  have  every  reason  to  believe  that,  while  under 
your  charge,  the  insane  lady  will  be  very  well  protected 
and  cared  for. 

"  I  am,  Madam,  yours  very  obediently, 

"  JAMES  LANE, 
"  JS.  B.  M?s  Legal  Vice-Consul, 

"Judge  of  H.  B.  M's  Consular  Courts  for  Egypt? 

Together,  with  this  document,  the  English  consul  at 
Alexandria  gave  me  a  letter  of  introduction  to  his  colleague 
the  English  consul-general  at  Trieste,  and  later,  in  a  time 
of  trouble,  both  these  documents  were  of  the  greatest  use 
to  me.  When  I  left  Bombay,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Deimler  had 
given  me  a  letter  of  introduction  to  his  friend,  the  cele- 
brated Sanskrit  professor,  Dr.  Haug,  of  Munich.  It 
occurred  to  me,  however,  that  my  unexpected  arrival  in  a 
strange  family,  accompanied  by  a  lunatic,  would  not  be  a 
pleasant  surprise.  I  therefore  wrote  from  Alexandria  to 
Dr.  Haug,  telling  him  that  I  was  going  to  Munich,  and 
would  call  on  him  with  the  letter  of  his  friend,  and  I  de- 
scribed the  condition  of  the  poor  creature  accompanying 
me.  It  was  a  happy  thought,  as  I  found  afterwards,  for 
this  letter  also  played  a  small  but  useful  part  in  the 
approaching  drama. 

It  was  now  Sunday,  the  llth  of  July,  and  to  get  Miss 
Cosserat  ready  to  appear  once  more  in  public  was  a  matter 
in  which  I  succeeded  after  considerable  difficulty.  I  had 
paid  the  account  due  for  our  entertainment  at  the  hospital, 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  823 

and  the  carriage  which  was  to  take  us  to  the  harbour  was 
already  waiting  at  the  door.  I  was  not,  however,  to  leave 
here  unshorn,  but  was  once  more  to  realise  that  I  was 
a  German  amongst  revengeful  French  nuns,  and  should 
have  to  pay  dearly  for  being  so. 

A  Frenchwoman  had  done  my  washing,  and  asked  more 
for  it  than  had  been  agreed  upon.  I  paid  her  what  was 
due  to  her,  telling  her  I  should  give  her  no  more,  for 
her  demand  was  unjust.  The  charges  for  washing  are 
exorbitantly  high  in  Cairo  and  Alexandria,  and  my 
washerwoman  had  charged  me  twelve  francs  more  than 
the  amount  verbally  agreed  upon  between  us.  She  was 
occasionally  employed  as  a  charwoman  at  the  hospital, 
and  went  at  once  to  the  Lady  Superior  with  a  complaint 
that  I  refused  to  pay  her  the  twelve  francs  still  due  to  her. 
I  was  at  that  moment  going  down  the  stairs  with  Miss 
Cosserat,  my  umbrella  and  travelling  bag  in  hand,  and  was 
about  to  get  into  the  carriage.  The  Lady  Superior,  a  very 
corpulent  and  most  irritable  Frenchwoman,  at  once  came 
to  me  in  a  towering  passion,  and  said,  "  I  am  mistress 
here,  and  you  will  pay  this  woman  what  she  asks."  I  then 
took  out  the  washing  bill,  and  was  going  to  explain  to  the 
matron  quietly  that  I  had  paid  the  woman  honourably,  and 
that  her  demand  of  twelve  francs  more  was  unjust,  but  the 
indignant  mistress  would  not  let  me  get  a  word  out,  and 
cried,  "  You'll  stay  here  until  you  have  paid  what  this 
woman  asks ; "  and  then,  to  my  intense  astonishment,  she 
ordered  the  servant  at  the  door  to  send  the  coachman  away 
with  the  carriage,  and  to  shut  the  door. 

As  the  carriage  rolled  away,  she  said  with  scornful  de- 
light, "  "Well,  now  you  will  lose  your  passage,"  and,  looking 


824  THE  NORTH  STAR 

at  her  watch,  she  added,  "  The  steamer  will  soon  start,  and 
for  the  sake  of  twelve  francs  you  will  lose  hundreds !  " 

Of  course,  the  crafty  woman  had  calculated  on  this 
extremity,  and  I  stood  in  the  passage  as  if  petrified,  and 
Miss  Cosserat,  whom  I  could  not  leave,  standing  beside  me. 
I  was  astounded  at  the  impertinence  and  injustice  of  this 
woman  dedicated  to  the  service  of  God.  She  marched  up 
and  down  the  hall  in  the  greatest  indignation,  playing  with 
her  rosary,  and  presently  coming  up  close  to  me,  she  suddenly 
snatched  my  travelling  bag  out  of  my  hand,  and  running 
off  like  a  thief  into  her  private  sanctum  she  turned  back 
at  the  door,  and  cried, "  You'll  get  your  travelling  bag  back 
when  you  give  me  twelve  francs,  not  before."  Meanwhile, 
poor  Miss  Cosserat,  not  knowing  what  was  going  on,  had 
run  into  one  of  the  side  passages  of  the  hospital,  and  I 
went  after  her.  In  this  passage  the  poor  German  nun 
rushed  up  to  me  and  embraced  me,  saying, "  Dear  lady,  did 
I  not  once  tell  you  that  the  veil  does  not  make  the  nun  \ 
These  Frenchwomen  are  taking  French  revenge  upon  you 
and  me,"  and  with  these  words,  the  poor  nun  hurried  away 
and  disappeared. 

Fortunately  for  me,  the  English  consul  had  remembered 
that  I  was  starting,  and  had  thought  it  well  to  send  some 
one  to  escort  me  to  the  steamer.  An  Arab  servant  from 
the  English  consulate  now  arrived,  and  I  sent  him  at  once 
to  get  a  carriage,  for  he  said  it  was  high  time  to  start,  and 
there  was  no  choice  left  to  me  but  to  give  the  Lady 
Superior  the  twelve  francs,  so  as  to  get  back  my  travelling 
bag,  in  which  I  had  some  funds.  In  the  presence  of  the 
Arabian  servant,  I  paid  half-a-sovereign,  and  said,  "I 
comply  with  your  unjust  demand,  because,  at  this  moment, 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  325 

it  is  too  late  to  have  protection  against  you.  I  have  paid 
you  honourably,  and  you  have  no  right  to  meddle  in  my 
private  affairs ;  you  are  acting  out  of  dislike  to  me ;  it  is  a 
crying,  and,  as  I  conclude  from  your  behaviour,  a  pre- 
meditated wrong  to  extort  money  from  me,  because  I  am 
a  Prussian,  and  it  is  nothing  more  or  less  in  fact  than  a 
theft." 

With  an  extremely  coarse  reply,  the  Lady  Superior 
now  returned  my  travelling  bag,  and  we  got  into  the  car- 
riage and  drove  to  the  harbour.  Such  were  my  experi- 
ences in  the  Sacred  Institutions  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  in 
Alexandria  and  Cairo.  I  had  had  enough  of  the  hatred  of 
the  French  against  the  Prussians,  and  again  and  again  I 
had  heard  that  I  was  "  une  tete  carree" 

When  we  reached  the  beach  the  wild  Arabs  waiting 
about  sprang  like  tigers  on  my  luggage,  each  seizing  a 
package  and  running  off  with  it  to  his  boat.  A  dozen 
boats  made  for  one  point,  and  each  boatman  got  hold  of  a 
piece  of  my  dress  to  drag  me  to  his  vessel.  At  this  the 
Arab  servant  took  the  coachman's  whip,  and  laying  about 
right  and  left,  finally  succeeded,  by  dint  of  cuffs  and  blows, 
in  getting  my  scattered  effects  into  one  boat.  In  the 
excitement  and  confusion,  a  policeman  had  received  a  sound 
thrashing,  after  which  he  stepped  forward,  saying  in 
French, "  Madame,  I  beg  your  pardon ;  I  am  a  policeman," 
and  he  showed  me  his  staff  and  livery. 

"  Why,"  said  I,  "  did  you  not  say  so  before  you  re- 
ceived the  thrashing  ?  But  you  need  not  beg  my  pardon, 
for  I  am  sorry  for  you."  Indeed,  the  resignation  with 
which  street  Arabs  submit  to  this  sort  of  correction 
approaches  heroism;  they  receive  cuffs  and  blows  as  a 


326  THE  NORTH  STAR 

matter  of  course,  and  with  admirable  meekness.  Now, 
however,  Miss  Cosserat  declined  to  leave  the  carriage,  for 
she  said  1  was  going  to  take  her  to  Catholic  nuns  again, 
and  she  was  very  excited.  Two  strong  Arabs  had  to  carry 
her  to  the  boat ;  and  to  keep  her  quiet,  I  gave  her  a  beau- 
tiful piece  of  ribbon  velvet,  which  I  had  £ut  in  my  travel- 
ling bag  in  case  of  need. 

The  Minerva  was  still  lying  at  anchor,  and  when  my 
boat  reached  the  side  of  the  vessel,  an  officer  came  and 
took  Miss  Cosserat  into  the  saloon.  The  first  passenger 
to  speak  to  me  was  the  Greek  Dr.  M.,  who  had  come 
with  me  from  Jerusalem  to  Port  Said. 

I  found  that  Baron  EL,  director  of  the  Austrian  Lloyd'8 
Company,  in  spite  of  his  great  confidence  in  the  assertions 
of  the  nuns,  and  in  spite  of  the  high  terms  I  had  paid  for 
a  first-class  cabin,  it  having  been  granted  as  a  special 
favour,  had  assigned  the  very  worst  berth  hi  his  gift  on 
the  Minerva  to  me  and  the  poor  lunatic.  The  Austrian 
Lloyd's  steamers  running  between  Alexandria  and  Trieste 
are  very  small,  compared  to  the  English,  American,  and 
German  ocean  steamers,  and  they  are  very  far  behind  the 
two  former  in  comfort  and  cleanliness. 

The  cabins  of  the  Minerva  are  partly  on  deck  and 
partly  downstairs;  the  former,  although  small,  are  good 
and  comfortable ;  but  the  latter,  except  those  with  port- 
holes opening  towards  the  outer  sides  of  the  vessel,  are 
close  and  inconvenient.  I  had  begged  the  director  to  give 
me  an  airy  cabin  on  deck,  so  that  I  might  not  have  to  get 
the  invalid  up  and  down  the  stairs,  but  the  director  was 
an  Austrian  Baron,  and,  as  such,  far  behind  ordinary 
Americans  and  Englishmen  in  chivalry  to  the  fair  sex. 


AND    THE  SOUTHERN  CROtiS.  327 

This  haughty  sprig  of  feudalism  showed  no  sympathy 
for,  and  took  no  notice  of,  a  poor  suffering  woman ;  but 
had  the  unfortunate  lunatic  been  a  baroness,  he  would 
have  recognised  her  to  be  a  fellow-creature  and  have  pitied 
her. 

To  my  dismay,  we  were  taken  down  a  narrow  staircase, 
into  a  dark  semicircular  cabin,  near  the  end  of  the  vessel, 
too  small  for  more  than  one  person  to  stand  in  it  at  once, 
and  with  two  berths,  one  above  the  other,  built  in  the 
wrong  direction  for  comfort.  The  motion  of  the  vessel 
would  be  felt  much  more  here  than  in  the  middle  of  the 
ship,  and  I  had  not  stood  in  the  dark  and  ill-smelling  close 
space  for  live  minutes  before  I  was  sea-sick.  I  was  sur- 
prised that  the  rocking  of  the  ship,  and  the  disagreeable 
steamboat  smells,  had  no  effect  whatever  on  the  invalid, 
who  was,  in  that  respect,  better  off  than  I.  I  believe, 
however,  that  sea-sickness  is,  in  many  cases  the  result  of 
imagination,  or  is  at  least  aggravated  by  it,  so  that  as  the 
poor  lunatic  was  deficient  in  mental  power,  and,  conse- 
quently, in  imagination,  her  physical  condition  was  un- 
affected by  the  change  on  board  ship.  The  injurious 
effects  of  the  stifling  cabin  on  her  weak  nerves  quickly 
manifested  themselves,  however ;  her  limbs  gave  way,  and 
she  crouched  upon  the  floor  in  a  half  fainting  fit,  where 
she  lay  without  power  or  motion. 

Although  she  did  not  know  it,  it  was  the  foul  air  which 
so  exhausted  her,  and,  as  she  had  not  strength  enough  to 
be  rebellious  and  obstinate  this  time,  I  was  able  to  get 
her  into  the  lower  berth,  which  was  almost  on  a  level 
with  the  floor.  In  spite  of  the  wretched  accommodation, 
however,  I  was  glad  that  the  invalid  had  consented  to 


328  THE  NORTH  STAR 

enter  a  cabin  at  all,  for  the  nights  are  much  rougher  and 
colder  on  the  Adriatic  Sea  than  on  the  Indian  Ocean  or 
the  Red  Sea,  and  it  would  have  been  very  bad  and  injuri- 
ous for  both  of  us  to  sleep  on  deck. 

The  first  day  we  neither  of  us  tasted  anything,  and  I 
was  suffering  dreadfully  until  the  next  morning.  I  was 
quite  as  ill,  in  fact,  as  I  had  once  been  on  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  where  I  was  first  seized  by  the  spectre  which  fol- 
lowed me  all  round  the  world ;  for  the  Atlantic  was  the 
first,  and  the  Adriatic  the  last,  sea  I  crossed  in  my  circular 
tour.  I  was  lying  in  the  upper  cabin ;  and,  during  the 
night,  I  often  tried  to  climb  down  to  see  how  things  were 
with  poor  Miss  Cosserat,  but  my  will  was  greater  than  my 
power,  and  I  had  to  give  up  the  attempt.  Again  and 
again  I  asked  the  invalid  how  she  felt,  but  I  received  not 
a  single  reply,  and  when  the  daylight  penetrated  into  our 
dark  cabin,  I  called  the  stewardess.  She  spoke  to  Miss 
Cosserat,  but  the  latter  remained  silent  and  motionless. 
A  cold  shiver  now  ran  over  me,  and  miserably  ill  though 
I  was,  I  managed  to  get  down,  and  taking  the  poor  crea- 
ture's hand  in  mine,  I  felt  her  pulse.  It  was  very  feeble, 
and  she  lay  perfectly  still,  looking  like  death.  I  bathed 
her  forehead  and  face  with  cold  water,  and  sent  for  the 
doctor  of  the  ship,  who  came  at  once. 

"  But  there  is  n»  air  here,"  was  his  first  exclamation. 
"  No  wonder  she  is  suffocated !  "  to  which  I  replied, "  But 
why  is  this  stifling  cabin  given  to  a  poor  invalid  ? " 

"Because,"  said  the  young  doctor,  in  an  indifferent 
tone,  "  it  was  assigned  to  the  lunatic  by  Baron  H.,  the 
director  in  Alexandria." 

"  I  do  beg  of  you,"  I  rejoined,  "  to  get  me  another  cabin. 


AND    THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  329 

I  have  paid  for  a  first-class  one,  and  this  is  too  bad  for  a 
third-class."  But  the  doctor  said  he  could  not  give  us 
another,  the  one  we  had  was  an  officer's  berth,  and  had 
been  assigned  to  us  two. 

"  Then,"  I  replied,  "  Baron  H.  gave  this  cabin  to  us 
because  my  charge  is  a  poor  unfortunate  creature,  and  you, 
as  the  doctor  of  the  ship,  look  upon  it  as  a  legitimate  and 
natural  result  that  she  should  be  suffocated." 

The  young  and  indifferent  doctor  now  saw  that  I  was 
in  earnest,  and  he  made  no  more  such  heartless  remarks. 
"  I  intend,"  I  added,  "  to  have  the  invalid  removed  from 
here,"  and  I  asked  the  stewardess  to  bring  me  a  list  of  the 
first-class  passengers.  She  did  so,  and  pointing  to  the 
name  of  one  of  them,  I  requested  her  to  ask  him  to  come 
and  see  an  invalid  lady.  All  this  time  the  doctor,  who 
was  a  German,  did  nothing  whatever  for  the  poor  creature, 
but  presently  lit  a  cigar,  and  took  his  departure.  Mean- 
while, a  German  gentleman,  Mr.  Breul,  from  Frankfort-on- 
the-Maine,  coming  from  Bombay,  and  a  friend  of  Consul 
Gumpert's,  had  learnt  that  I  was  on  board  the  Minerva, 
and,  hearing  of  my  complaints,  he  now  came  with  a  friend, 
Mr.  Simpson,  an  English  banker,  to  see  if  I  needed  any 
help  from  him.  When  these  gentlemen  saw  my  wretched 
cabin  they  were  very  indignant,  and  told  the  young 
doctor  that  the  two  ladies  must  have  a  better  and  more 
airy  berth  immediately,  and  in  this  they  were  seconded 
by  my  kind  friend,  the  Greek  doctor.  No  sooner  said 
than  done ;  my  two  new  friends  gave  up  their  own  state- 
room to  me,  and  a  quarter  of  an  hour  later  I  was  in  an 
elegant  cabin  on  deck  close  to  the  saloon. 

Thus  far  Miss  Cosserat  had  neither  opened  her  eyes 


330 

nor  spoken  a  word,  but,  when  she  was  carried  by  strong 
arms  into  a  purer  atmosphere,  she  revived.  My  Greek 
friend,  who  came  to  see  her,  gave  her  a  dose  of  pills,  and, 
two  hours  afterwards,  my  poor  suffering  foster-child  made 
a  good  breakfast.  It  was  most  fortunate  for  me  that  I 
happened  to  meet  passengers  on  the  Minerva  who  knew 
me,  for  I  was  now  no  longer  left  to  myself,  and  I  had 
friends  at  hand  whose  noble  sympathy  was  a  comfort  and 
support  to  me. 

Miss  Cosserat's  fellow-countryman,  the  English  banker 
already  mentioned,  who  had  already  heard  all  the  peculiar 
details  of  her  unhappy  history  in  Bombay,  treated  her 
with  the  kindness,  patience  and  indulgence  of  a  brother, 
doing  all  in  his  powrer  to  lighten  my  burden. 

Towards  evening,  we  managed  to  get  the  invalid  on 
deck.  We  settled  her  very  comfortably  in  a  large 
arm-chair,  and  Mr.  Simpson,  his  German  friend,  and  I,  sat 
•down  near  her.  This  evening,  for  the  first  time  since  I 
had  known  her,  Miss  Cosserat,  who  as  1  have  before 
remarked,  gave  proof  of  considerable  culture,  in  spite  of 
the  derangement  of  her  intellect,  entered  into  a  long 
conversation  with  strangers.  She  spoke  English  beau- 
tifully, and,  often,  when  her  subject  did  not  happen  to  be 
either  wild  or  wicked,  it  was  a  pleasure  to  me  to  listen  to 
her.  On  this  occasion,  as  it  seemed  to  us,  she  had  a  few 
lucid  moments,  during  which  she  talked  to  us  about  her 
former  life.  Now  she  was  at  Scarborough,  in  England  ; 
and  now  again  her  mind  had  wandered  to  Blankipore,  and 
Patna,  in  India,  and  she  spoke  of  her  sister's  marriage  with 
an  English  general,  adding  that  she  lived  in  England 
with  her  husband. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  331 

Mr.  Simpson,  the  English  banker  from  Bombay,  said  he 
remembered  of  having  heard  of  such  a  marriage  several 
years  previously,  adding  that,  if  Miss  Cosserat's  accounts 
were  founded  on  truth,  she  was  highly  connected,  and  he 
believed  she  had  several  sisters  older  than  herself.  He 
was  surprised  at  the  lunatic  being  thus  alienated  from  her 
family,  and  wondered  that  neither  her  father  nor  any  of 
her  sisters  had  accompanied  her  to  Europe. 

But  the  clearer  the  light  thrown  upon  the  history  of 
my  protegee  by  the  investigations  of  the  passengers  on 
the  Minerva,  founded  on  the  faint  clue  given  by  these 
apparently  trustworthy  references  to  her  family,  so  much 
the  more  mysterious  did  her  father's  conduct  appear. 
Why,  said  they,  should  a  Protestant  father  send  his  lunatic 
daughter  to  a  Catholic  convent  in  a  foreign  land,  instead 
of  to  England,  where  she  has  relations  and  friends,  and 
where  she  would  hear  her  own  language  spoken  ? 

Strange  enough,  however,  the  revelations  of  the  invalid 
never  extended  beyond  a  certain  point.  She  always 
spoke  with  the  greatest  vehemence  against  her  father  in 
Blankipore,  and  this  vehemence  sometimes  became  the 
wildest  passion  ;  but,  directly  her  mother's  name  was 
mentioned,  she  became  suddenly  mute.  The  question 
"  Is  your  mother  still  alive  ?  "  was  never  answered,  but  was 
always  succeeded  by  deep  depression,  the  poor  creature 
closing  her  eyes  and  apparently  sinking  into  a  painful 
reverie.  On  the  evening  in  question  she  had  expressed 
her  hatred  of  Catholic  convents  in  the  most  forcible 
manner ;  repeating,  "  We  are  Protestants,  and  our  father 
poked  us  all  into  Roman  Catholic  convents."  We  sat 
upon  deck  until  long  after  midnight,  for  Miss  C.  would 


332  THE  NORTH  STAR 

not  go  back  into  her  cabin.  It  was  so  cold  that  I  could 
not  stay  up  any  longer,  but  my  charge  was  obstinate, 
treated  me  roughly,  and  kicked  me.  At  this  the  gentle- 
men interfered,  and  spoke  very  sharply  and  strongly  to 
her  about  her  behaviour  to  me,  finally  carrying  her  to  our 
cabin  by  main  force.  The  poor  creature  now  imagined  it 
was  my  fault  that  she  had  to  leave  the  deck,  and  was  fear- 
fully indignant  with  me,  saying  that  if  she  had  thrown  me 
into  the  sea  she  could  have  been  her  own  mistress,  and 
have  stayed  on  deck  as  long  as  she  chose.  It  was  im- 
possible to  undress  her ;  but,  fortunately,  she  got  into 
the  upper  berth  of  her  own  accord,  from  which  she 
inveighed  against  me  in  a  terrible  manner,  not  falling 
asleep  until  towards  morning. 

The  next  day,  the  third  after  we  left  Alexandria, 
Miss  C.  did  not  get  up,  but  lay  silent,  taking  no  notice 
of  anything  that  was  said  to  her,  and  declining  to  taste 
any  food.  She  lay  with  her  face  hidden  and  turned  to 
the  wall,  showing  the  greatest  ill-temper  and  spite. 
Whenever  I  drew  back  the  curtain  to  look  at  her,  she 
would  spit  in  my  face,  gnash  her  teeth  at  me,  and  fling 
everything  she  could  get  hold  of  after  me.  Her  quiet 
brooding  and  her  excited  vindictive  behaviour  alike  gave 
me  the  greatest  uneasiness,  for  she  had  never  before 
manifested  such  intense  hatred  of  me.  Mr.  Simpson  and 
his  friend,  as  well  as  the  Greek  doctor,  and  the  doctor  of 
the  ship,  tried  to  persuade  her  to  get  up  or  take  some- 
thing to  eat,  but  she  struck  at  them  with  her  fists,  and  we 
finally  left  her  alone. 

At  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  I  drew  back  the  curtain 
very  softly  to  see  if  she  was  asleep,  but  she  was  kneeling 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  383 

ap  in  bed,  with  uplifted  hands,  gazing  wildly  and  fixedly 
at  the  wall  above  her  head.  An  uncomfortable  suspicion 
now  occurred  to  me,  and  this  praying  and  despairing 
figure  made  me  shudder.  Scarcely  knowing  what  I 
feared,  I  felt  an  instinctive  dread  of  some  pending 
danger.  Hardly  daring  to  breathe,  I  wiped  the  damp 
perspiration  from  my  forehead,  and  went  on  deck  feeling 
painfully  depressed.  "  Mr.  Simpson,"  I  said,  addressing 
that  gentleman,  "  I  have  a  dread ;  a  presentiment  of  evil. 
Miss  Cosserat  is  unusually  and  peculiarly  quiet  to-day, 
and  I  feel  sure  she  is  meditating  nothing  good."  "  What 
gives  you  these  gloomy  forebodings,  my  dear  Miss 
Weppner  ? "  asked  Mr.  S.,  in  a  tone  full  of  sympathy.  My 
reply  was  broken  by  tears.  "  I  fear,"  I  said,  "  I  fear  I 
know  not  what,"  and  the  gentleman,  touched  by  my 
distress,  went  with  me  once  more  to  the  cabin,  where  we 
found  Miss  C.  still  kneeling  in  the  same  desponding 
attitude,  with  the  same  fearful  rigid  gaze  towards  the 
wall,  but  with  her  hands  now  reverently  folded,  as  if  in 
prayer. 

"  Miss  C.,"  said  Mr.  Simpson  in  a  very  loud  voice,  "it  is 
late  at  night,  lie  down  and  rest."  At  this,  the  poor 
creature  considered  a  bit,  and  then,  with  a  wild,  despairing 
and  fearful  laugh,  she  said,  "  I  must  look  at  that  wall,  and 
shall  rest  on  my  knees.  Miss  Weppner  is  tired,  she 
added ;  she  must  lie  down ;  I  am  watching." 

The  gentlemen  now  tried  to  reassure  me,  telling  me 
that  the  lunatic  was  too  weak  to  remain  much  longer  in 
that  position  and  would  presently  lie  down  and  go  to 
sleep.  But  I  could  not  get  rid  of  my  feeling  of  horror, 
and  when  my  friends  retired  for  the  night,  I  knelt  down 


334  THE  NORTH  STAR 

and  said  my  evening  prayer,  and  with  trembling  lipa  1 
commended  myself  and  my  protegee  to  the  protection  of 
God;  and  being  so  very  uneasy,  I  asked  my  guardian 
angel  whether  he  was  near  to  me,  for,  in  my  childish 
trust,  I  fully  believed,  and  never  doubted,  that  my  Heavenly 
Father  had  given  me  one  of  His  angels  to  watch  and  guide 
me.  It  was  a  dark  rough  night,  not  a  star  was  to  be 
seen,  and  a  strong  blustering  wind  blew  from  the  north. 
I  closed  my  window,  and,  when  at  last  I  lay  down,  my 
cheeks  were  hot  and  feverish,  and  my  eyes  heavy  with 
weeping.  "  God  protect  me ! "  I  murmured  once  more ; 
and  once  more  I  spoke  to  my  guardian  angel,  requesting 
Him  in  the  sweetest  terms  not  to  leave  me. 

I  fell  asleep,  but  an  invisible  spirit  was  awake,  and, 
when  danger  approached  me,  my  good  and  faithful  angel 
roused  me  from  my  slumbers,  for  it  was  God's  will  that 
he  should  save  me. 

And  now  the  world,  the  sea,  my  protegee^  and  all  my 
terrors  forgotten,  I  lay  quietly  resting.  It  was  past 
midnight,  between  twelve  and  one,  when  I  suddenly  woke 
up,  sprang  out  of  bed,  rushed  to  the  door  and  tugged  at 
the  handle.  It  would  not  open ;  oh,  my  God !  I  tried  to 
call  out ;  but  my  voice  choked  me.  How  fearfully  horrible 
it  was !  a  smell  of  smoke,  and  the  glow  of  fire  upon  the 
wall,  and  the  lunatic,  dancing,  gesticulating,  and  singing 
in  mad  delight  before  the  flames.  Still  the  door  would  not 
open.  "  My  God ! "  I  shouted,  "  help !  help !  "  and  the  wild 
creature,  laying  her  hand  upon  my  mouth,  to  suppress  my 
despairing  call,  tried  with  all  her  strength  to  drag  me  to 
the  flames,  whilst  she  cried,  her  features  terribly  distorted, 
"  You  shall  die.  Look  how  beautiful ;  I  lighted  it ;  it  is  for 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CBOS8.  335 

you."  I  tore  her  hand  from  mj  mouth,  and  dragged  the 
raving  maniac  away  from  the  flames  towards  the  door, 
crying,  through  the  darkness  of  the  night,  "  O  God,  save 
me !  Help !  help !  Heaven  hear  me ! " 

The  flames  now  rose  higher,  and,  with  one  hand,  I  held 
the  maniac,  laughing  in  her  fearful  glee,  back  from  the 
flames,  and,  with  the  other,  tore  at  the  door  which  still 
refused  to  yield  to  my  efforts.  In  despair  I  fell  upon 
my  knees,  and,  with  one  hand  uplifted,  and  with  the  other 
forcing  the  mocking  lunatic  away  from  the  burning  wall, 
I  gave  utterance  to  the  most  agonised  scream  of  terror 
which  was  ever  sent  up  to  heaven  by  a  human  soul  in  its 
extremity.  But  the  lunatic  now  clutched  at  my  hair  and 
dragged  me  along  the  floor  like  a  tigress,  trying  meanwhile 
to  stop  my  mouth.  I  found  strength,  however,  to  wrench 
myself  away  from  her  wild,  furious  grasp,  and,  lifting  up 
both  my  hands  towards  heaven,  I  shouted  in  my  despair, 
"  Fire !  help ! "  A  wild  derisive  laugh  echoed  my  cry  of 
agony,  and  no  one —  no  one  would  hear  me !  I  now  gave  up 
all  hope  and  tried  to  open  the  window,  but  the  wild  creature 
bit  my  hands,  and  I  found  it  impossible  to  get  any 
control  over  her.  Then  I  flung  myself  upon  the  ground 
again  with  outstretched  arms,  whilst  the  invalid  laughed 
and  spat  in  my  face.  But — but — my  awful  prayer,  my 
awful  cry  did  penetrate  through  storm  and  darkness,  and 
at  last  awoke  some  of  my  neighbours  from  their  heavy 
slumbers. 

"  Where  ?  Where  ?  Who  is  calling  for  help  ?  Who  calls 
Fire  ? "  cried  wild  voices  on  every  side.  "  For  the  love  of 
God,"  was  my  reply, "  open  the  door,  save  us — here  I  here !  " 
And  I  thumped  and  thumped  at  the  door  until  two  powerful 


386  THE  NORTH  STAR 

men  flung  themselves  against  it,  making  it  fly  from  its 
hinges.  "  O  God,  we  are  lost !"  cried  the  men  in  despair, 
as  they  dragged  us  out,  away  from  the  flames,  the  lunatic 
resisting  and  laughing  the  most  horrible  laugh  which  ever 
fell  upon  my  ears. 

The  captain,  officers  and  crew  now  hurried  to  the  scene 
of  terror,  and  tried,  with  the  greatest  courage,  presence  of 
mind,  and  despatch,  to  get  the  mastery  of  the  flames,  but 
meanwhile,  the  awful  (try  of  "  Fire ! "  had  aroused  all  the 
ladies,  and  they  rushed  out  of  their  cabins  in  a  wild  panic. 
"  We  are  lost ! "  exclaimed  one.  "  I  shall  throw  myself 
into  the  sea ! "  screamed  another. 

The  captain,  however,  did  all  he  could  to  calm  them  with 
gentle  reassuring  words,  and  the  ladies  assembled  in  the 
saloon,  while  the  gentlemen  gave  their  assistance  to  check 
the  spread  of  the  flames. 

"  The  fire  is  out !  all  danger  is  at  an  end !  "  cried  Mr. 
Simpson,  after  some  time ;  and  the  panic,  which  had  so 
suddenly  arisen,  was  with  equal  suddenness  allayed,  whilst 
every  one's  attention  was  directed  towards  me  and  Miss 
Cosserat,  who  had  been  the  prime  actors  in  this  awful 
nocturnal  scene.  I  felt  as  if  I  should  die,  and  trembled 
so  violently  that  I  could  not  get  a  word  out.  My  teeth 
chattered  so  dreadfully  that  the  doctoi  held  my  mouth, 
which  I  could  not  shut  myself,  firmly  closed  with  both 
his  hands  for  some  time.  I  could  not  stand  upright, 
and  I  was  so  icy  cold  that  I  was  covered  over  with  several 
wrappers  and  shawls.  The  sudden  fright,  the  long  delay 
whilst  I  was  struggling  with  the  lunatic  had  exhausted 
all  my  strength,  and  the  cruel  suspense  as  to  whether 
I  should  live  or  die,  combined  to  make  up  the  most 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  337 

terrible  experience  I  ever  went  through  in  my  whole  life. 
I  had  lost  all  control  over  my  excited  nerves ;  my  knees 
shook  so  that  some  one  was  obliged  to  hold  them  down, 
and  it  was  feared  that  serious  results  would  ensue  from  the 
dreadful  shock  to  my  nerves.  Whilst  I  was  suffering  so 
terribly  no  one  put  a  single  question  to  me,  and  everybody 
manifested  the  greatest  sympathy  with  me.  The  captain, 
to  console  me  and  revive  my  courage,  took  my  trembling 
hand,  and  said,  "  Calm  yourself,  my  dear  madam,  for  we 
must  celebrate  our  fortunate  escape  this  very  day.  You 
have  saved  the  lives  of  all  the  passengers,  you  have  saved 
the  steamer  and  everything  else,  and  I  must  give  you  my 
warmest  and  most  earnest  thanks,  for  if  you  had  not 
woke  just  at  the  right  time,  if  you  had  slept  five  minutes 
longer,  the  flames  would  have  reached  the  deck,  and  with 
this  strong  wind  blowing,  it  would  have  been  impossible 
to  master  the  fire.  We  were  all  standing  on  the  brink  of 
an  awful  grave,  and  you  were  our  angel  of  salvation." 

Gradually  I  became  somewhat  composed,  but  the  scene 
of  despair,  the  wild  dance  of  the  lunatic,  and  the  thought 
how  near  I  had  been  to  a  death  of  agony  in  the  flames, 
could  never  be  effaced  from  my  mind. 

And  what,  you  ask,  was  the  lunatic  doing  all  this  time  ? 
She  was  laughing :  still  laughing  her  awful  laugh,  and 
whenever  I  caught  sight  of  her  distorted  ghost-like  face,  a 
fresh  access  of  horror  came  over  me.  Some  of  the  gentle- 
men were  obliged  to  watch  her  and  prevent  her  from  ap- 
proaching me,  for  it  was  easy  to  see  that  she  cherished  the 
deepest  rancour  against  me. 

"  Why  did  Miss  Weppner  call  for  help  ? "  she  asked.  "  It 
was  a  splendid  fire,  and  only  a  coward,  like  Miss  Weppner, 
VOL.  n.  22 


338  THE  NORTH  STAR 

could  have  been  afraid  and  have  called  out  for  help.  Oh, 
the  sly  devil,"  she  added,  lifting  her  hand  in  a  threatening 
manner;  "you  pretended  to  be  asleep,  but  you  were 
watching  me,  and  I  stopped  your  mouth,  but  you  called 
for  help  all  the  same." 

In  spite  of  this  self-accusation,  the  poor  creature  dis- 
played the  greatest  cunning,  and,  although  the  gentlemen 
plied  her  with  all  manner  of  artful  questions,  she  confessed 
to  no  one  if  she  lighted  the  fire,  or,  if  so,  how.  Some  weeks 
later,  however,  when  no  one  was  asking  her  for  the  truth, 
she  voluntarily  owned  her  guilt,  relating  every  detail  of 
the  occurrence  with  the  greatest  exactness,  whereas,  on 
the  night  in  question,  she  threw  all  the  blame  on  those 
who  accused  her. 

In  a  few  hours  all  was  once  more  perfectly  quiet  on  board 
the  steamship  Minerva.  The  captain  assured  the  ladies 
and  gentlemen  there  was  nothing  more  to  fear,  and  that 
the  lunatic  was  under  the  strictest  surveillance.  Many  of 
the  passengers  went  back  to  bed,  but,  unfortunately,  one 
Greek  lady  was  so  much  upset  by  the  sudden  fright,  that 
she  could  not  leave  her  cabin  for  two  days. 

Mr,  Simpson,  and  other  passengers,  now  set  very 
earnestly  before  me  their  conviction,  that  the  lunatic  was 
bent  on  my  destruction,  and  that  my  life  was  in  danger. 
They  warned  me  never  to  be  alone  with  the  invalid,  and 
the  captain  took  every  precaution  for  my  safety.  The 
sailors  had  cleaned  my  cabin,  and  at  the  captain's  request, 
the  carpenter  secured  the  window  in  such  a  manner  that 
Miss  Cosserat  could  get  fresh  air,  without,  as  people 
thought,  there  being  any  danger  of  her  flinging  herself  out. 
Everything  which  could  not  be  secured  or  nailed  fast  was 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  339 

taken  out  of  the  cabin,  and,  after  a  good  deal  of  discussion 
and  trouble,  Mr.  Simpson  and  another  Englishman  got 
the  invalid  back  into  her  quarters.  "When  she  noticed  the 
smell  of  fire,  and  the  damage  it  had  done  to  the  wall,  she 
again  burst  out  into  a  wild  laugh,  talked  about  the  evil 
spirits  who  had  lit  it  up,  and  wanted  me  to  come  to  her. 
I  had  given  the  Italian  stewardess  a  liberal  fee,  and  she 
now  set  herself  to  work  to  get  my  charge  to  bed,  whilst 
Mr.  Simpson,  promising  her  that  he  would  call  me,  shut 
the  door  and  locked  it  on  the  outside.  Two  sailors  were 
appointed  to  keep  watch  outside  her  window,  who  were 
relieved  four  hours  later  by  two  others. 

The  captain,  who  had  learned  of  some  passengers  that 
I  had  taken  charge  of  the  lunatic  out  of  compassion  for 
her,  not  for  any  advantage  to  myself,  treated  me  in  a  most 
generous  way.  He  was  aware  that  Mr.  Cosserat  had 
provided  me  with  no  funds  to  meet  extra  expenses,  and, 
without  asking  for  any  further  payment,  he  now  offered  me 
a  second  cabin  for  the  rest  of  the  journey.  It  was  again 
two  Englishmen  who  gave  up  their  cabin,  which  was  the 
best  in  the  ship,  so  that  here,  as  everywhere  else  on  my 
journey,  I  found  English  people  very  obliging  and  truly 
chivalrous. 

After  being  completely  worn  out  with  the  terrible 
visions  of  this  awful  night,  I  fell  at  last  into  a  heavy 
slumber,  and  slept  for  several  hours ;  but  when  I  woke  up 
I  realised  only  too  fully  the  injurious  effects  of  all  I  had 
gone  through.  My  voice  was  hoarse,  my  knees  were 
almost  as  rigid  as  iron,  and  I  could  not  walk  easily.  Every 
now  and  then  a  nervous  shivering  overcame  me  again, 
whilst  my  hands  were  as  cold  as  ice,  and  my  face  as  pale 


340  THE  NORTH  STAR 

as  death.  It  was  only  too  evident  that  iny  health  was 
injured  by  the  cruel  shock  to  my  nervous  system  of  the 
previous  night,  and  the  thought  of  this  depressed  me  very 
much.  The  doctor  gave  me  some  medicine,  but  it  was 
many  months  before  I  felt  as  well  again  as  I  had  done 
before  that  "  night  of  terror." 

The  next  morning,  when  we  had  taken  the  lunatic  on 
deck,  the  captain,  the  Greek  doctor,  and  some  other  gen- 
tlemen inspected  the  cabin,  and  really  our  narrow  escape 
might  well  appear  a  marvel  to  every  one.  Miss  Cosserat 
had  set  tire  to  the  wall,  close  to  my  bed,  about  halfway 
between  the  floor  and  the  ceiling,  and  the  flames  had 
blazed  up  between  my  bed-curtains  and  my  clothes,  the 
latter  of  which  were  hanging  over  a  velvet  sofa,  which, 
from  my  bed,  I  could  reach  with  my  hand.  On  the  right 
side,  at  the  head  of  the  bed,  was  a  small  wash-hand  stand 
built  into  the  wall,  and  on  the  floor,  between  it  and  the 
sofa,  stood  a  little  Indian  bamboo  basket.  Miss  Cosserat 
had  moved  this  basket  a  little  away  from  the  wall,  and  lit 
her  fire  a  few  steps  from  the  bed  above  the  wash-hand 
stand.  One  side  of  the  bamboo  basket  was  blackened  and 
slightly  burnt,  but  neither  my  white  petticoats,  my  silk 
dress  nor  my  bed-curtains,  which  all  hung  quite  close  to 
the  flames,  were  in  the  least  injured  by  them.  When  the 
gentleman  who  had  torn  down  my  curtains  and  dresses 
from  their  dangerous  position,  whilst  the  fire  was  raging 
during  the  previous  night,  saw  the  narrow  space  which 
had  separated  them  from  the  flames,  he  exclaimed,  with  an 
expression  of  the  most  earnest  faith,  "An  invisible  power 
encompassed  the  flames  about.  Thus  far  and  no  farther 
raged  the  dangerous  element."  The  wall,  in  the  centre  of 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  341 

which  the  fire  had  been  lighted,  and  against  which  stood 
the  head  of  my  bed,  was  not  more  than  a  couple  of  yards 
long,  and  the  open  space  in  which  I  had  struggled  with 
the  lunatic  was  only  about  two  to  three  feet  square. 
Perhaps,  if  I  had  succeeded  in  opening  the  window,  a 
gust  of  wind  would  have  spread  the  flames,  in  which  bed, 
dresses,  sofa,  and  probably  we  ourselves,  would  shortly 
have  been  enveloped,  for  the  fearful  scene  was  enacted  in 
a  very  small  space. 

But  my  Father  in  heaven  had  heard  the  prayer  I  said 
before  I  went  to  rest,  and  my  guardian  angel  checked  the 
flames.  It  was  awful  to  think  of  what  would  have  hap- 
pened had  the  lunatic  lit  the  fire  under,  or  in  my  bed, 
instead  of  one  foot  from  it ;  but  my  God  saved  me  from 
such  a  horrid  death. 

"  A  second  miracle ! "  exclaimed  my  Greek  friend,  when 
he  had  examined  the  scene  of  the  fire.  "  Every  one,  from 
the  captain  to  the  last  of  the  crew,  speaks  with  astonish- 
ment of  the  narrow  escape  you  and  all  of  us  have  had." 
The  pious  doctor  proceeded  to  tell  the  passengers  of  my 
lucky  fall  from  my  horse  over  a  very  dangerous  rock 
near  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane  in  Palestine,  which  he  had 
witnessed,  adding  "You  are  certainly  under  the  protection 
of  Heaven,  Miss  Weppner,  and  I  can  now  understand  how 
you  have  come  so  far  alone  without  meeting  with  any 
misfortune. " 

All  that  we  found  to  show  what  had  been  the  origin  of 
the  fire  was  a  burnt  lucifer-match,  which  an  officer  found 
on  the  ground  near  the  bamboo  basket,  from  which  Miss 
Cosserat  had  taken  several  newspapers,  small  half -consumed 
fragments  of  which  were  strewn  under  and  on  my  bed.  A 


342  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

piece  of  paper  was  also  found  stuck  in  the  lock  of  the  door, 
which  accounted  for  my  having  been  unable  to  open  it 
when  we  were  in  such  terrible  danger.  The  artful  lunatic 
had  calculated  everything  admirably,  but,  at  the  time,  we 
did  not  know  how  she  had  procured  the  matches,  nor  how 
she  had  hidden  them,  for  I  had  never  seen  any  lucifers  in 
any  of  the  cabins  on  board  the  Minerva.  The  lamps  were 
generally  lit  and  extinguished  by  the  sailors  or  waiters. 
On  the  eventful  night,  I  had  put  out  our  lamp  myself 
before  I  went  to  sleep,  and  a  sailor  on  watch  at  the  time 
said  he  had  passed  our  cabin  at  midnight,  and  saw  no 
light.  The  next  day  we  found  out  in  what  a  cunning  way 
the  lunatic  tried  to  overreach  us,  and  obtain  matches.  Mr. 
Simpson  and  his  friend  were  smoking  at  a  table  in  the 
saloon,  with  a  little  vase  of  matches  and  a  cigar  plate 
before  them,  and  Miss  Cosserat  and  I  were  sitting  near 
them.  My  patient  wished  me  to  go  away,  but  I  would  not 
do  so,  and  she  conversed  very  rationally,  looking  sharply 
now  in  the  face  of  one,  now  of  the  other  of -the  two 
gentlemen.  She  had  one  hand  lying  across  the  table,  and 
presently  Mr.  Simpson  and  I  noticed  her  approach  that 
hand  slowly  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  matches,  finally 
seizing  three,  roll  them  slowly  to  the  edge  of  the  table, 
and  hide  them  in  her  clenched  hand.  She  then  rose,  and 
with  a  gracious  bow  to  the  gentlemen,  she  was  turning 
away,  when  Mr.  Simpson,  lifting  his  hand  with  a  depre- 
cating gesture,  grasped  her  by  the  arm,  saying,  "  What 
have  you  taken  ? "  "  Nothing,"  she  replied,  with  a  wild 
look ;  "  let  me  go."  But  Mr.  Simpson  held  her  fast,  and 
his  friend  opening  her  hand  by  main  force  took  away  the 
matches.  This  made  the  invalid  frantic,  she  spat  about} 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  843 

and  struck  out  in  every  direction,  and  the  gentlemen 
carried  her  into  her  cabin.  Suddenly  I  heard  a  dreadful 
noise  outside  the  saloon,  and,  rushing  out,  saw  one  of  the 
sailors  holding  back  the  lunatic,  who  had  broken  the 
strongly-barricaded  window,  and  was  about  to  spring  into 
the  sea.  The  state  of  her  mind  was  evidently  much 
worse,  and  she  required  the  strictest  surveillance,  for,  on 
the  fourth  day,  she  again  attempted  to  drown  herself. 
Her  inscrutable  cunning  got  the  better  of  all  our  precau- 
tions, and  exceeded  all  our  calculations,  for  she  would  dash 
away  from  those  who  were  looking  after  her  with  the 
speed  of  a  bird,  generally  taking  the  most  dangerous 
direction.  Since  the  night  of  the  fire  she  had  expressed 
her  peculiar,  murderous  love  of  me  in  the  wildest  lan- 
guage. And  the  fact  that  I  had  destroyed  her  favourite 
scheme,  and  interrupted  her  in  her  mad  delight  in  destruc- 
tion, seemed  to  have  turned  her  strange  love  into  deadly 
hatred.  The  poor  creature  who  had  calculated  on  my 
death  only,  not  on  her  own  painful  end,  now  regretted  the 
failure  of  her  plan,  and  meditated  a  fresh  revenge.  How- 
ever, everybody  was  anxious  for  my  safety,  and  I  was 
never  left  alone  with  her  for  a  moment.  It  was  the  opin- 
ion of  many  that  the  cause  why  the  poor  creature  wished 
to  get  me  out  of  the  way,  was  her  conviction  and  fear  that 
I  was  going  to  take  her  to  a  convent. 

I  could  take  but  little  interest  in  the  splendid  scenery 
of  the  Greek  coast,  for  the  state  of  my  health,  and  my 
constant  anxiety  about  my  miserable  patient  were  not  cal- 
culated to  promote  the  enjoyment  of  the  beauties  of 
nature,  and  this  was  a  real  privation  to  me  with  my  earnest 
delight  in  them.  It  seems  to  me  now  as  if  I  had  seen  the 


344  THE  NORTH  STAR 

fair  coasts  of  Greece  in  a  dream,  for  I  had  not  fully  felt 
or  enjoyed  their  beauties,  and  retained  only  a  faint  imper- 
fect recollection  of  them. 

We  cast  anchor  at  Corfu,  a  very  pretty  and  picturesque 
town  on  the  Greek  coast,  formerly  belonging  to  the  Eng- 
lish, and  here  my  Greek  friend  bade  me  farewell. 

Late  on  the  fifth  day,  the  Minerva  anchored  in  the  har- 
bour of  Trieste,  and,  to  my  regret,  the  captain  informed 
me,  but  in  the  most  considerate  manner,  that  I  could  not 
leave  the  steamer  at  once,  as  he  must  first  report  on  the  fire 
which  had  occurred,  after  which  a  commission  would  come 
on  board  the  Minerva  to  investigate  the  matter.  This 
information  was  entirely  unexpected,  and,  as  my  nerves 
were  a  good  deal  shaken  by  the  events  of  the  last  few 
days,  it  upset  me  so  much  that  I  burst  into  tears.  Mr. 
Simpson  explained  to  me  that  the  investigation  must  be 
held,  and  the  good  captain  spoke  so  kindly  that  I  was 
comforted,  dried  my  tears,  and  remained  on  the  vessel, 
and  that  for  two  whole  long  days  and  nights.  The  cap- 
tain left  the  necessary  guard  on  board,  for  the  surveillance 
of  the  lunatic,  and  a  stewardess  also  remained,  with  whose 
assistance  I  managed  to  give  Miss  Cosserat  a  bath  and 
dress  her  respectably. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  345 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Simpson  had  landed,  he  went  to  the 
English  consul-general  in  Trieste,  and  that  gentleman, 
accompanied  by  my  kind  friend,  as  well  as  by  the  English 
vice-consul,  and  a  German  doctor  from  the  lunatic  asylum 
of  Trieste,  came  on  board  the  Minerva.  The  consul- 
general  was  an  elderly  and  very  dignified  man,  who 
addressed  me  in  a  fatherly  manner,  and  asked  me  what 
he  could  do  for  me. 

I  gave  him  the  letter  of  the  English  consul  at  Alex- 
andria, and  told  him  that  it  was  my  hope  and  my  firm 
resolve  to  take  the  poor  lunatic  to  some  medical  establish- 
ment, and  not  to  the  convent  at  which  she  was  expected. 
I  knew,  however,  that  I  had  no  power  to  do  more  than 
the  father  of  my  poor  protegee  had  licensed  me  to  do 
in  writing,  and  I  therefore  asked  the  consul-general  to 
introduce  me  to  the  English  ambassador  in  Munich,  before 
whom  I  wished  to  bring  the  matter,  and  whose  support  I 
hoped  to  obtain  in  carrying  out  my  resolve.  Miss 
Cosserat  was  an  English  subject,  and  I  had  been  re- 
peatedly told  that  the  English  ambassador  would  have  the 
power  legally  to  protect  a  fellow-countrywoman  deserted 


346  THE  NORTH  STAR 

by  her  father  and  to  prevent  her  being  shut  up  in  a 
Catholic  convent.  The  consul-general  of  Trieste  said  he 
thought  I  was  right,  and  he  commended  my  kind  efforts 
on  behalf  of  the  poor  creature  who  had  been  confided  to 
my  care. 

"But,"  added  this  estimable  man,  "have  you  the 
strength  to  take  the  invalid  to  Munich  ? " 

"  Oh  yes,"  I  replied.  "  I  have  gone  through  so  much, 
and  am  so  near  the  last  stage  of  this  tragic  journey,  that 
I  hope  I  may  be  able  to  reach  it." 

The  German  doctor  from  the  lunatic  asylum  en- 
deavoured to  examine  my  patient,  but  she  ran  away  from 
him ;  the  doctor,  however,  made  me  pay  very  dearly  for 
his  visit.  The  consul-general,  seeing  that  I  gave  the 
doctor  what  he  demanded,  inquired  if  I  was  able  to 
defray  such  incidental  expenses,  as  he  had  learned  from 
my  friend  that  the  young  lady's  father  had  calculated  the 
cost  of  her  journey  very  closely.  I  then  told  him  what 
was  the  balance  of  my  travelling  finances,  and  we  reckoned 
how  much  the  journey  from  Trieste  to  Munich  would 
come  to.  My  new  friend  also  was  of  opinion  that  it  was 
very  unfeeling  and  exacting  of  the  father  not  to  have 
sent  a  man,  or  at  least,  a  woman-servant,  with  me,  and  all 
the  gentlemen  who  happened  to  be  present  agreed  in 
suggesting  that  I  should  take  a  trustworthy  attendant 
from  the  Trieste  lunatic  asylum  to  Munich  with  me.  The 
German  doctor  then  said  that  I  must  pay  the  travelling 
expenses  and  the  board  of  such  an  attendant  there  and 
back,  and  that  his  wages  would  be  five  silver  gulden 
(10s.)  per  day  on  the  two  trips.  Hearing  this,  the  consul- 
general  said  that,  if  I  had  not  funds  enough  to  satisfy 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  347 

this  demand,  he  would  settle  it  for  me.  I  told  him  that 
the  sum  I  had  still  in  hand  would,  at  least,  take  me  to 
Munich,  and  that  I  hoped  to  get  help  there,  if  it  should 
then  prove  insufficient  to  cover  everything.  I  now 
showed  the  consul-general  the  telegram  from  Mr.  Cosserat 
at  Patna,  in  which  he  said  that  he  had  sent  the  Lady 
Superior  at  Nymphenburg  a  sum  of  money  for  taking 
charge  of  his  daughter,  to  which  sum  I  imagined  her  to 
have  no  claim,  if  she  did  not  undertake  that  charge.  The 
consul-general  also  hoped  that  the  introduction  to  the 
English  ambassador  would  relieve  me  from  every  em- 
barrassment, and  he  then  handed  me  an  official  letter 
to  his  Excellency  Sir  Henry  Francis  Howard,  at  that  time 
the  English  envoy  extraordinary  at  Munich,  Bavaria.  The 
German  doctor  promised  to  send  me  an  attendant,  and  I 
observed  to  him  that  it  must  be  one  who  could  speak 
either  German,  or  English,  or  French. 

The  gentlemen  forming  the  commission  of  inquiry,  who 
examined  the  cabin  which  had  been  injured  by  the  fire, 
treated  me  with  great  indulgence  and  respect,  merely 
asking  me  formal  questions.  They  inquired  the  address 
of  Mr.  Cosserat,  and  I  understood  that  a  telegram 
would  be  sent  to  him,  most  probably  to  demand  compen- 
sation from  him  for  the  damage  done  to  the  cabin  by  the 
fire. 

The  second  day,  the  English  vice-consul  at  Trieste  again 
came  on  board  the  Minerva,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Simp- 
son, and  their  kindness  did  much  to  encourage  me.  They 
told  me  to  keep  up  a  good  heart,  and,  in  the  evening,  Mr. 
Simpson,  who  had  been  so  extremely  good  to  me,  started 
for  England  by  way  of  Yenice. 


348  THE  NORTH  STAR 

In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  a  very  strongly-built 
man  introduced  himself  to  me,  by  means  of  a  letter  from 
the  German  doctor  of  the  lunatic  asylum,  as  the  attend- 
ant who  had  been  promised.  The  good  fellow  was  of  an 
extraordinary  size,  was  panting  dreadfully,  and  I  found 
he  was  an  Italian,  and  could  speak  nothing  but  his  own 
language,  and  a  little  broken  Alsatian  German,  of  which, 
however,  I  understood  much  less  than  of  the  Italian  he 
spoke.  I  had  a  good  mind  to  send  the  huge  man  back  to 
the  German  doctor,  but,  as  I  was  now  allowed  to  leave  the 
vessel,  I  was  eager  to  get  away  from  Trieste,  and  I  re- 
flected that  I  only  wanted  my  big  servant's  strength  and 
not  his  language. 

I  gave  the  stewardess  and  watchman  fees  with  which 
they  were  well  satisfied ;  my  huge  attendant  carried  the 
invalid  to  a  carriage,  and  we  drove  to  the  railway  station. 
Here  fresh  annoyances  arose  from  the  curiosity  and  im- 
pertinence of  the  public.  The  lunatic  had  hardly  alighted 
from  the  carriage  before  a  large  crowd  of  rough  men  and 
unkempt  gutter  children  assembled,  who  followed  the  poor 
creature  step  by  step. 

"  Who  is  that  lunatic  ? "  inquired  an  insolent  woman, 
and  I  replied  gravely,  "  The  person  who  asks  that  question 
is  a  fool,"  at  which  the  woman  stood  still,  and  followed 
the  unfortunate  invalid  no  farther.  A  well-dressed  gen- 
tleman, who  had  several  times  looked  furtively  at  the  mis- 
erable form  beside  me,  seeing  how  roughly  she  was  treat- 
ing me,  and  that  she  was  trying  to  wrench  herself  away  from 
my  arm,  now  approached,  and,  with  a  heightened  colour 
and  a  voice  full  of  sympathy,  said,  "  Can  I  be  of  any 
assistance,  madam  ?  Shall  I  help  the  invalid  along ;  where 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  349 

do  you  wish  to  go  ? "  I  replied,  with  tears  in  my  eyes,  that 
I  was  going  to  Yerona,  and  had  a  servant  with  me,  but 
that  he  was  gone  to  look  after  the  luggage,  and  all  I  wanted 
was  some  place  to  wait  for  the  train  to  start,  and  where  I 
should  not  be  annoyed  by  the  curiosity  of  the  inquisitive 
crowd.  The  gentleman,  who  was  a  Frenchman,  then 
escorted  me  to  the  garden  of  a  restaurant  and  politely  took 
his  leave. 

My  servant  then  came  to  tell  me  that  all  my  trunks 
must  be  examined,  and  I  left  him  in  the  garden  with  the 
invalid,  telling  him  to  take  supper  whilst  I  went  to  the 
custom-house. 

I  had  heard  several  allusions  on  board  the  Minerva  to 
the  rough  and  dishonest  manner  in  which  the  custom-house 
officials  of  Trieste  sometimes  took  advantage  of  the  ignor- 
ance of  travellers  as  to  the  value  of  goods  liable  to  duty 
and  of  the  Austrian  notes  and  silver  coin ;  unfortunately  I 
can  add  that  the  custom-house  officials,  into  whose  hands 
I  fell  in  Trieste,  although  they  spoke  very  good  German, 
were  rather  savage  boors  and  thieves  than  civilised  men. 
I  have,  indeed,  been  told  that  the  Trieste  custom-house 
enjoys  a  notoriety  for  incivility  and  dishonesty,  and  I  can 
verify  this  by  saying  that,  nowhere  between  New  York 
and  Trieste,  or  vice  versd,  had  I  met  with  such  insolent, 
thievish  officials  as  in  the  town  in  question.  Such  savage 
Europeans  might  well  take  a  lesson  in  civilisation  and 
politeness  from  Asiatic  officials,  whom  we  are  pleased  to 
call  uncivilised. 

I  opened  my  trunks,  and  a  custom-house  officer  asked  me, 
in  good  High  German,  if  I  had  anything  liable  to  duty,  I 
said,  "  No,  not  that  I  know  of ;  but  please  see  for  yourself. 


350  THE  NORTH  STAR 

I  have  come  a  long  distance;  my  effects  have  been  ex- 
amined several  times,  and  I  have  nothing  contraband,  to 
my  knowledge." 

At  the  top  of  one  of  my  trunks  lay  quite  loose  a  piece 
of  Chinese  foulard,  which  I  had  bought  in  Bombay  for 
five  rupees,  and  had  hemmed  on  both  sides,  to  use  as  a 
covering  for  my  head  at  sea.  The  officer  took  the  piece  of 
silk,  and  exclaimed,  "  You  have  told  me  a  lie ;  you  did  not 
mention  this  contraband  piece  of  goods,  and  that  is  an 
offence  punishable  by  law!"  "Did  I  not  ask  you,"  I 
replied,  "  to  see  for  yourself  what  I  have,  for  I  do  not  know 
what  you  call  liable  to  duty  in  Trieste  ? "  "  This  is  liable," 
he  rejoined  roughly,  "  and,  as  you  did  not  declare  it,  I  shall 
confiscate  it."  He  then  overhauled  all  my  trunks,  and 
having  found  nothing  else  which  he  could  possibly  call 
contraband,  he  ordered  me  to  follow  him  into  the  office, 
speaking  to  me  in  the  imperative  mood,  and,  in  spite  of 
his  High  German,  much  as  he  would  to  a  dog  compelled 
to  obey  him. 

There  was  another  custom-house  officer  hi  the  office, 
and  I  attempted  to  complain  to  him  of  the  injustice  of  his 
colleague,  as  the  foulard  was  hemmed,  and  used,  and 
therefore  not  new,  but  he  did  not  seem  to  hear  a  word  1 
said.  But  when  the  man  who  had  looked  at  my  trunks  added 
that  I  must  leave  the  piece  of  stuff,  and  pay  three  silver 
gulden  as  a  fine,  and  when  I  protested  against  the  injustice, 
the  apparently  deaf  official  seized  me  by  the  arm,  shook  me 
angrily  backwards  and  forwards,  and  said,  "  Do  you  want 
to  teach  us  the  custom-laws  ?  tell  me,  tell  me,"  he  repeated 
imperatively.  "  I  don't  want  to  teach  you  anything,"  I 
replied,  sobbing,  aloud,  "  I  merely  wish  to  tell  you  that  it 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  351 

is  unjust  of  you  to  confiscate  the  foulard,  and  that  you  are 
stealing  the  three  gulden  you  demand  as  a  fine." 

I  went  away  feeling  very  indignant,  and  inquired  of  a 
man  if  there  was  not  protection  against  such  officials. 
"  There's  a  police  officer  over  there,"  he  replied,  pointing 
to  an  office,  "  but  the  police  and  custom-house  authorities 
are  in  league,  and  divide  the  beautiful  things  they 
confiscate  and  the  fines  they  steal.  Such  injustice  to 
foreigners,  especially  to  ladies  travelling  alone,  is  a  daily 
and  usual  occurrence  in  the  custom-house  here.  Many 
articles,"  he  said,  "  have  been  written  in  reference  to  this, 
but  the  Government  takes  no  notice." 

The  man  was  right.  I  went  to  the  police  officer  and 
complained  to  him  of  the  ill-treatment  I  had  received  at 
the  hands  of  the  custom-house  officers,  stating  that  in 
defiance  of  all  right,  my  property  had  been  confiscated,  and 
a  fine  of  three  gulden  imposed.  The  police  officer  shook 
his  he'ad,  and,  not  once  looking  up  from  his  desk  into 
the  face  of  his  interlocutor,  said  he  could  not  meddle  in 
the  matter,  and  that  to  obtain  justice  I  must  lay  the  affair 
before  a  judge  the  next  day. 

I  then  went  back  to  the  custom-house,  and  once  more 
demanded  my  foulard  back,  and  when  the  man  who  had 
confiscated  it  declined  to  give  it,  I  told  him  I  would  get 
my  rights,  if  I  had  to  wait  till  the  next  day.  The  robber 
now  flung  the  stuff  at  my  feet  in  a  rage,  and,  as  I  picked 
it  up,  and  was  turning  away,  the  other  thief  again  took 
me  by  the  arm  and  said,  "  But  you  will  pay  the  fine  of 
three  gulden."  "  No,"  I  replied, "  1  owe  no  fine,  and  no  fine 
will  I  pay."  "  Then  you  won't  leave  here  till  you  do,"  and 
he  bolted  the  door  of  the  office.  I  felt  so  excited  and 


352  THE  NORTH  STAR 

angry  that  I  scarcely  knew  where  I  was,  and  I  said  to  the 
thievish  officials,  "You  demand  three  gulden  from  me,  and 
I  give  them  to  you  as  payment  for  a  lesson  which  will  be 
useful  to  me  in  the  future,  not  as  a  fine.  If  I  were  alone 
I  should  not  be  content  with  the  return  of  the  foulard,  but 
should  insist  upon  getting  my  rights,  and  proving  that  you 
have  no  claim  to  three  gulden  from  me,  but  that  you  are 
stealing  them.  Unfortunately,  however,  I  have  an  invalid 
with  me,  and  it  is  better  for  me  to  satisfy  your  unjust 
demand  than  to  wait  here  and  refer  my  case  to  a 
tribunal." 

The  robber  officials,  who  took  me  for  an  Englishwoman, 
then  received  from  me  a  paper  note  for  five  gulden,  and  I 
waited  for  my  change.  One  of  the  robbers  remarked 
however,  "  that  custom  dues  and  fines  had  to  be  paid  iii 
Trieste  in  silver,  and  that  they  were  not  bound  to  receive 
paper  money ;  still  he  would  keep  it,  for  three  silver  gulden 
were  nearly  equal  to  five  gulden  in  paper  money,  the 
difference  was  very  slight."  At  that,  I  mentioned  the 
exact  difference  and  the  robbers  both  pretended  to  look 
about  for  the  requisite  change.  While  they  were  so 
employed,  the  man  who  had  taken  my  trunks  to  the  cart. 
came  and  told  me  I  must  make  haste  as  the  train  was 
about  to  start.  When  the  robbers  heard  this,  they  both 
laughed  scornfully,  and  I  said  to  them,  "  I  demand  my 
change,  or  the  note  for  five  gulden  back  again,  I  will 
change  it  myself."  The  elder  of  the  two,  however,  declared 
he  should  give  me  neither  one  nor  the  other.  "  You  are 
robbers  then  ! "  I  exclaimed  with  disdainful  emphasis,  and 
left  the  office.  The  very  fact  that  they  had  returned  the 
foulard,  showed  clearly  that  the  three  gulden  claimed  as 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  353 

a  fine  was  a  bold  theft,  and,  instead  of  three,  they  stole 
five. 

I  hurried  to  the  garden,  meeting  my  huge  servant  by  the 
way,  who  told  me  that  a  porter  had  taken  my  small  effects 
to  the  railway  carriage,  everything  was  in  order,  and  it  was 
high  time  I  got  the  tickets.  I  did  so  as  quickly  as  I  could, 
and,  as  Miss  Cosserat  would  not  let  the  "  big  man  "  bring 
her,  I  ran  back  and  fetched  her  myself.  T  was  still  so 
excited  at  the  insulting  words  and  ill-treatment  of  the 
robber  officials,  that  I  could  think  of  nothing  else  except 
the  safety  of  my  protegee.  A  gentleman  helped  me  to  get 
Miss  C.  into  the  carriage,  and,  at  the  time,  I  did  not  think 
to  look  whether  I  had  got  all  my  property  safe.  At  the 
last  moment  before  the  train  started,  an  old  grey-haired 
gentleman  came  up  in  great  haste  and  asked  me  to  give 
him  my  name  and  the  details  of  the  affair  at  the  custom- 
house, that  he  might  publish  them  the  next  day.  "  Such 
savage  treatment,"  he  said,  "must  be  publicly  censured, 
though  our  custom  and  police  officers  are  used  to  ignominy 
and  scorn,  and  the  Government,  which  has  similar  com- 
plaints brought  before  it  every  day,  has  so  far  taken  no 
notice  whatever  of  the  savage  and  dishonest  manner  in 
which  its  custom-house  business  is  transacted." 

The  train  began  to  move ;  the  old  gentleman  raised  his 
hat,  and,  quite  exhausted,  I  leant  my  head  against  the  white 
cushions  of  the  carriage.  When  I  felt  a  little  restored,  I 
looked  after  my  small  effects,  and,  to  my  dismay,  I  missed 
my  bonnet  box,  and  the  large  bamboo  basket  which 
contained  a  good  many  odds  and  ends  necessary  for  our 
journey.  This  was  the  first  time  I  had  lost  anything  on 
my  long  journey.  I  got  out  at  the  first  station  at  which 
VOL.  n.  23 


354  THE  NORTH  STAR 

the  train  stopped  and  telegraphed  to  the  station-master  at 
Trieste,  telling  him  of  the  garden  in  which  the  two  miss- 
ing articles  had  probably  been  left,  and  begging  him  to 
send  them  to  me  at  Munich,  if  they  should  be  found. 
After  sending  five  different  telegrams,  I  subsequently 
received  news  at  Munich,  that  both  pieces  of  property  were 
in  the  custody  of  the  waiter  who  had  served  us  in  the 
garden  of  the  restaurant,  and  would  be  sent  after  me  on 
the  receipt  of  a  fee  of  two  gulden.  I  had  paid  the  waiter 
for  what  we  had  to  eat,  but  had  neglected  to  give  him  a 
fee,  and,  as  I  cannot  but  conclude,  he  had  availed  himself 
of  my  absence  to  secrete  the  box  and  basket  with  a  view 
to  making  sure  of  his  fee.  As  the  articles  in  question 
were  of  great  value  to  me,  I  sent  two  gulden  to  the  waiter 
at  Trieste,  and  he  forwarded  my  property  to  me,  for  which 
I  had  to  pay  five  gulden  for  carriage. 

The  conduct  of  this  individual  was  nothing  less  than 
an  infamous  extortion,  and  such  extortions  of  fees  would 
not  be  tolerated,  except  by  a  people  amongst  whom  the 
masters  do  not  yet  know  that  it  is  their  duty  to  pay  their 
servants  themselves,  and  who,  as  I  found  out  in  many 
places,  engage  waiters  for  the  fees  they  get  from  the  guests. 
It  is,  however,  only  in  Germany,  France,  and  Austria,  that 
the  systematic  exaction  of  fees  goes  on.  The  masters  of 
the  hotels  and  restaurants  are  not  very  scrupulous  as  to 
the  way  in  which  their  servants  get  payment.  A  precious 
civilisation  must  that  be  where  such  bad  customs  as  this 
prevail !  Such  infamous  extortions  of  fees  are  unheard 
of  in  the  hotels  and  restaurants  of  the  United  States. 
The  masters  of  that  free  country  have  the  moral  pride 
to  pay  their  servants  themselves,  and  the  servants  are 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  355 

too  proud  and  independent  to  work  for  or  to  beg  for 
fees. 

Miss  C.  was  now  pretty  docile ;  she  was  afraid  of  our 
huge  servant,  and  did  not  stir  from  my  side.  The  next 
night  she  chose  my  shoulder  as  her  resting-place,  pressed 
my  hand  warmly,  and  told  me  several  times  I  was  the  best 
and  dearest  German  lady  she  had  ever  known. 

We  travelled  all  night,  and  with  the  beginning  of  the 
new  day  one  mishap  succeeded  another.  I  was  annoyed 
at  almost  every  station,  for  many  of  the  travellers  who 
happened  to  get  into  our  carriage  were  afraid  of  the  luna- 
tic and  made  complaints.  The  guards  wanted  me  to  pay 
for  an  extra  coupe,  which  I  could  not  do,  but  I  mollified 
their  discontent  with  handsome  fees.  How  glad  I  was 
when  we  approached  Yerona,  and  I  saw  green  vineyards 
once  more ;  although  the  sight  of  them  filled  me  with 
yearnings  for  my  dear  mother  in  my  home  on  the  Rhine, 
where  the  vines  are  even  more  beautiful  than  in  Yerona. 

My  huge  servant  was  very  good,  but,  unfortunately,  also 
very  slovenly,  so  much  so  that  it  soon  became  disgusting 
to  travel  with  him.  He  snuffed  and  sneezed,  and  drank 
as  often  and  as  much  as  he  could,  whilst  his  hands,  his 
collar,  and  all  his  clothes,  were  very  dirty.  But  I  hoped 
to  reach  Munich  in  forty-eight  hours,  and  I  endured  his 
huge  and  oppressive  presence  as  best  I  could. 

Arrived  at  Yerona,  the  keeper  of  the  restaurant,  at  my 
request,  and  on  liberal  payment,  gave  me  a  private  room. 
Miss  Cosserat  was  extremely  feeble  and  exhausted;  her 
suffering,  emaciated  appearance  cut  me  to  the  heart,  and  I 
had  moreover  a  dreadful  headache.  I  tried  to  get  the  poor 
girl  to  bed,  and  she  rested  a  few  hours.  Meanwhile  I 


356  THE  NORTH  STAR 

managed  by  a  small  extra  payment  to  secure  a  coupe,  and 
towards  evening  we  left  Verona,  and  made  our  way  towards 
Innsbruck  through  the  beautiful  Bronnerthal.  It  was 
strange  that  the  invalid,  when  in  a  train,  always  chose  to 
rest  on  my  shoulder,  and,  however  tired  I  might  be,  I  had 
to  hold  out  patiently ;  for  the  slightest  opposition  to  her 
will  excited  her  to  the  wildest  anger.  On  the  whole,  how- 
ever, she  was  rather  better  since  we  had  left  Trieste,  and 
her  hatred  of  me  appeared  to  have  somewhat  moderated 
in  the  last  two  days.  She  manifested  the  greatest  aversion 
to  our  big  servant,  never  calling  him  anything  but  the 
"filthy  one,"  and  whenever  he  approached  her,  she  treated 
him  in  the  most  insolent  manner.  Sometimes  she  nestled 
quite  lovingly  up  to  me,  and  asked  me  if  I  could  forgive 
her.  "  Of  course,  I  forgive  you,  poor  creature,"  I  replied, 
quite  touched,  giving  her  a  hearty  kiss,  adding  gently, 
"  have  you  injured  me,  Miss  Cosserat  ? " 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  with  a  deep  sigh,  "  I  have  injured  you 
very  much ;  Heaven  will  never  forgive  me,  for  I  wanted 
to  kill  you  in  return  for  your  love."  This  feeh'ng  answer 
proved  to  me  that  the  poor  creature  was  not  yet  lost  to 
sense  and  love,  but  could  still  feel  shame  and  remorse, 
and  that  her  mind  and  spirit  had  now  and  then  a  lucid 
and  happy  moment.  This  led  me  to  hope  that  the  poor 
young  lady  might  be  cured  and  restored  to  herself  and 
society. 

At  about  one  in  the  morning,  when  I  was  sitting  beside 
Miss  Cosserat,  half  asleep  and  half  awake,  I  heard  a  cry  of 
alarm  and  the  train  stopped.  I  woke  my  snoring  servant, 
and  told  him  to  see  what  it  was ;  but  he  was  too  sleepy  to 
understand  what  I  said,  so  I  laid  the  invalid's  head,  which 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  357 

rested  on  my  shoulders,  softly  on  the  cushion  of  the  seat, 
and  went  to  the  window.  I  saw  no  guard,  and  could  not 
imagine  why  we  stopped.  Presently  the  train  backed 
a  considerable  distance,  finally  drawing  up  opposite  to  a 
station,  where  lights  were  burning.  It  was  raining  heavily, 
and  a  gentleman  with  an  umbrella  came  out  of  the  station 
of  whom  I  inquired  the  cause  of  the  return  of  the  train. 
"  There  has  been  a  mishap,"  he  replied  ;  "  a  large  piece  of 
rock  broke  off,  and  is  lying  upon  the  rails.  The  train  was 
close  upon  being  wrecked,  but  a  warning  was  given  in  time, 
and  it  was  brought  back  here ;  but,"  he  concluded,  "  the 
accident  is  a  serious  one,  and  no  train  is  likely  to  start 
for  Innsbruck  for  another  fortnight."  "  I  have  an  insane 
lady  with  me,"  I  explained ;  "  would  you  be  so  good  as  to 
receive  us  in  your  office,  until  I  can  get  a  carriage?" 
"  Certainly,"  replied  the  obliging  Tyrolese,  and  having 
made  my  Italian  servant  understand  the  cause  of  the  delay, 
and  wrapped  Miss  Cosserat  in  my  railway  wrapper,  he 
carried  her  to  the  office,  whilst  she  protested,  as  well  as  she 
could,  declaring  she  would  not  be  carried  by  such  a  dirty 
man. 

The  place  at  which  we  stopped  was  a  small  village,  called 
Matrei,  and  we  sat  in  the  office,  which  also  served  as  a 
waiting-room,  for  twelve  hours  before  we  could  get  a 
carriage,  as  no  one  kept  a  vehicle,  except  the  landlord  of 
the  only  inn  in  the  village,  whose  house,  as  I  saw  in  the 
morning,  was  decked  out  with  a  number  of  white  and  blue 
flags  in  honour  of  the  Pope's  jubilee,  then  being  celebrated. 
The  landlord,  as  I  heard,  was  a  pious  Ultramontane,  but, 
for  all  that,  he  did  not  scruple  to  gather  in  a  good  harvest 
by  the  high  prices  he  charged  on  account  of  the  fete,  and 


358  THE  NORTH  STAR 

the  railway  accident  was  also  a  fortunate  opportunity  for 
him  to  do  a  thriving  business. 

The  train  was  an  express,  with  none  but  first  and  second 
class  passengers,  and  many  of  them  being  in  a  very  bad 
humour  about  the  accident  and  consequent  delay,  behaved 
in  anything  but  a  creditable  manner.  They  were  all 
German,  or  at  least  they  all  spoke  that  language,  and  they 
grumbled  and  cursed  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  treating 
the  station-master  like  a  schoolboy.  I  realised,  to  my  cost, 
that  I  was  no  longer  amongst  American  or  English  people, 
for  no  one  showed  any  sympathy  for  the  poor  lunatic  or 
any  courtesy  to  me.  The  invalid  was  in  a  wretched  state, 
and  lay  like  one  dead  on  a  sofa  in  the  office.  I  begged  very- 
hard  that  some  one  would  help  me  to  go  on  farther,  but 
every  one  hurried  past  me,  and  one  man,  a  very  haughty 
Prussian  baron,  actually  mocked  at  my  unfortunate  com- 
panion. "What  dogs  of  railway  officials  you  Austrians 
are ! "  he  cried  in  an  arrogant  "Junker"  tone ;  "  in  Prussia 
I  should  not  have  to  wait  so  long  to  be  forwarded  to  the 
place  to  which  I  have  paid  my  fare."  With  the  aid  of  the 
station-master,  I  here  paid  my  huge  servant  his  wages, 
adding  to  them  the  fare  back  to  Trieste,  and  the  sum 
agreed  on  for  extra  expenses,  telling  him  I  should  no 
longer  require  his  services,  for  the  fact  was  the  good  man 
was  really  too  dirty. 

The  station-master,  a  very  good-natured  and  honest- 
looking  man,  engaged  a  young  Tyrolese  to  go  on  with  me, 
himself  vouching  for  his  faithfulness  and  trustworthiness. 

At  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  Ultramontane 
landlord  sent  me  a  carriage,  which  was  uncovered,  in  spite 
of  the  heavy  rain,  and  for  this  miserable  vehicle  he  de- 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  359 

manded  nine  silver  gulden  (ten  silver  gulden  are  equal  to 
£1)  which  every  one  said  was  too  much,  and  a  most  unjust 
exaction.  But  the  pious  Ultramontane,  whose  very  ap- 
pearance was  bigoted,  stuck  to  his  price.  I  paid  him  and 
made  him  give  me  a  receipt.  "  He  is  an  Ultramontane," 
I  heard  several  Tyrolese  peasants  say.  "  He  is  celebrating 
the  Pope's  jubilee  to-day ;  but,  pious  man  as  he  is,  he 
knows  what  to  demand  from  his  fellow-creatures." 

My  poor  protegee  and  I  were  the  last  railway  passengers 
to  leave  the  village  of  Matrei,  and  in  an  hour  and  a  half 
we  arrived  at  Innsbruck.  I  went,  as  I  had  been  advised 
at  Matrei,  to  the  railway  authorities,  to  demand  compen- 
sation, as  I  had  paid  the  full  fare  to  Innsbruck.  The  direc- 
tor was  very  ungracious,  said  he  should  pay  nothing  except 
the  amount  by  rail  paid  previously,  which  was  very  little, 
and  only  about  the  ninth  part  of  my  expenses  down  to 
Innsbruck,  not  including  those  I  had  at  Matrei ;  and  when 
I  told  him  that  the  landlord  at  Matrei  had  charged  nine 
silver  gulden  for  a  carriage  to  Innsbruck,  he  said  the  man 
was  right  morally  and  legally,  and  if  he  had  asked  a  hun- 
dred he  would  have  had  a  perfect  right  to  do  so.  I  got  a 
curious  notion  of  justice  and  kindness  in  this  Roman  Cath- 
olic valley,  where  the  largest  number  are  Ultramontanes, 


me  with  more  justice  and  consideration  than  my  Catholic 
brethren  at  the  gate  of  my  home. 

It  is  true  that  the  Tyrol  does  not  belong  to  the  New 
Germany  of  the  present  day,  to  which  I  belong,  but  it 
is  nevertheless  a  German  country,  as  is  every  fraction  of 
land  —  whether  it  be  of  the  Hohenzollern  or  Hapsburg 
house  —  in  which  German  is  the  native  language.  What 


360  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

struck  and  pained  me  most  on  my  return  to  German 
soil,  after  my  travels  in  the  remote  distance,  was  the 
brusque,  unchivalrous  behaviour  of  the  men.  Respect  for 
women  is  by  no  means  a  universal  virtue  in  my  native 
land,  where  feudalism  and  metaphysics,  and  poetry  both 
earthly  and  heavenly  have,  thus  far,  failed  to  produce  an 
exemplary  or  practically  chivalrous  race,  like  that  of  the 
two  branches  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  the  English  and  the 
American.  Perhaps  if  I  had  not  been  accompanied  by  a 
poor  unfortunate  lunatic,  I  should  not  so  much  have  no- 
ticed the  difference  between  the  treatment  of  women  by 
Anglo-Saxons  and  Teutons.  But  I  met  German  ladies 
who  were  not  encumbered  with  a  lunatic,  and  whose 
experience  at  home  and  abroad  was  similar  to  mine.  I 
met  with  two  German  ladies  in  Palestine  who  had 
travelled  through  Turkey,  and  this  was  the  compliment 
they  paid  their  fellow-countrymen :  "  The  chivalrous  folk 
who  on  our  travels  have  shown  us  courtesy  and  kindness 
were  always  Americans  or  Englishmen,  never  our  own 
fellow-countrymen." 

In  Munich  also  I  became  acquainted  with  the  wife  of  a 
savant  who  had  travelled  from  British  India  to  Europe, 
as  an  invalid,  and  she  said  to  me,  "  I  travelled  alone  and 
unprotected,  and,  so  long  as  I  was  amongst  English  people, 
all  courtesy  and  respect  were  shown  to  me;  every 
Englishman  being  anxious  to  assist  me  as  I  was  an 
invalid.  But  as  soon  as  I  trod  upon  German  soil,  and 
travelled  amongst  my  own  country-people,  I  was  deserted 
and  treated  in  a  brusque,  indifferent  manner,  and  I  found 
myself  in  clouds  of  tobacco  smoke  everywhere." 

"We  intended  to  leave  Innsbruck  in  the  afternoon,  but 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  861 

here,  too,  we  were  delayed.  A  despatch  arrived  from 
Rosenheim  to  say  that  no  train  would  be  allowed  to  start, 
as  the  rivers  had  risen  in  several  places  and  the  rails  were 
under  water.  We  passed  the  night  partly  in  the  waiting- 
room,  and  partly  in  the  moonlight,  on  the  platform  of  the 
station.  Unfortunately  we  had  another  fire,  which  was, 
however,  speedily  put  out  this  time.  Miss  Cosserat,  who 
was  lying  on  a  long  sofa  in  the  waiting-room,  had  set  fire 
to  herself,  but  the  servant  and  I  both  discovered  the  little 
flame  at  the  same  moment,  and  we  smothered  it  with  a 
travelling-rug.  We  were  alone,  and  no  one  else  saw  or 
heard  of  the  incident. 

This  was  the  fourth  night  that  I  had  not  slept,  and  I 
felt  so  tired  that  I  hardly  knew  how  to  stand  upright. 
Besides  this,  Miss  C.  became  very  dangerous.  She  had  a 
mania  for  lucifer  matches,  and  required  the  strictest 
watching.  As  soon  as  the  restaurant  was  open  we  went 
to  get  our  breakfast,  and  we  had  hardly  sat  down  when 
some  matches,  which  my  charge  had  secretly  taken  off  the 
table,  took  fire.  I  seized  a  bottle  of  water,  poured  it  over 
her  hand,  and  put  out  the  flames.  The  poor  creature's 
hand  was  badly  burnt,  yet  she  did  not  seem  to  feel  the 
pain,  but  merely  inveighed  against  me  with  the  bitterest 
scorn,  saying  I  was  an  all-seeing  persecuting  spirit,  who 
disturbed  her  in  everything.  In  putting  out  the  fire,  I 
had  used  the  table  cloth,  which  was  a  little  blackened,  but 
not  damaged.  The  waiter  looked  very  sour  about  it,  and 
began  to  complain,  but  I  gave  him  a  fee  and  his  face 
cleared  at  once.  Fees,  fees  !  all-powerful  and  healing  fees ; 
how  often  in  Germany  was  I  called  upon  to  create  good 
will  and  dissipate  ill-humour  with  them!  At  eight 


362  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

o'clock  in  the  morning  a  telegram  arrived,  saying  that 
the  line  was  free  from  water,  and  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
later  we  were  rolling  away  to  Munich.  When  we  led  the 
lunatic  to  the  carriage,  the  guard  made  an  awful  grimace, 
and  said  I  must  pay  for  an  extra  coupe,  but  I  gave  a  well- 
filled  bit  of  paper,  and  his  face  cleared  immediately, 
whilst  he  nodded  his  thanks  with  the  most  chivalrous  air. 
Another  nuisance  in  Germany  is  the  constant  changing 
of  carriages ;  the  journey  from  Innsbruck  to  Munich  only 
takes  six  or  seven  hours,  and  during  that  short  trip  we 
had  to  change  carriages  twice,  so  that  the  fee  I  gave  the 
guard  at  Innsbruck  only  served  me  as  far  as  he  went 
with  us,  and  that  was  to  Rosenheim,  about  half-way  to 
Munich,  where  we  stopped  for  refreshment  and  changed 
carriages.  I  told  my  servant,  "  Johann  "  by  name,  to  get 
what  he  liked  to  eat  and  drink,  giving  him  the  necessary 
funds,  whilst  I  went  with  Miss  Cosserat  into  a  corner  of 
the  restaurant.  I  took  care  to  seize  the  matches  on  the 
table,  and,  giving  them  to  the  waitress,  ordered  dinner. 
My  charge,  as  usual,  looked  about  for  matches,  and  not 
being  able  to  find  any,  she  was  very  surly  and  cross, 
striking  me  in  the  face,  and  tearing  my  hat  from  my 
head.  I  did  all  I  could  to  soothe  her,  and  fed  her  like  a 
child,  but  she  took  her  food  out  of  her  mouth  and  flung  it 
in  my  face.  We  were  of  course  the  observed  of  all  the 
other  travellers,  everybody  stared  at  us,  and  when  the 
bell  rang  for  us  to  return  to  our  carriages,  I  had  tasted 
nothing,  my  dress  was  soiled,  and  my  hah*  rumpled. 
"  That  young  lady,"  said  a  gentleman  behind  me,  "  is  to  be 
pitied,  the  lunatic  treats  her  worse  than  a  slave."  But  I 
had  yet  more  to  endure  in  Rosenheim,  and,  as  I  passed 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  363 

through  the  crowd  with  my  patient,  I  heard  much  in  my 
dear  mother-tongue  which  wounded  me  deeply.  At  last 
I  found  it  impossible  to  hear  this  rude,  mocking  language 
quietly  any  longer,  and  sobhing  and  crying  I  made  my 
way  to  a  second-class  carriage.  My  servant  was  behind 
mo,  and  was  going  to  help  me  to  get  the  lunatic  into  the 
carriage,  when  a  man  (he  was  no  gentleman)  called  out  in 
the  Bavarian  dialect,  "  No  mad  woman  gets  in  here,"  and 
with  that  he  placed  a  thick  stick  across  the  door,  adding, 
in  a  loud  rough  voice,  "go  farther  on  with  your  mad 
woman."  A  woman  in  the  same  carriage  (she  was  no 
lady]  also  said  the  most  insulting  things  to  me  in  the 
Bavarian  dialect,  and  asked  me  if  I  thought  she  was  going 
to  sit  in  the  same  carnage  with  a  servant,  "  that  stupid 
peasant ! " 

I  made  no  reply  to  either,  but  turning  to  a  guard,  said, 
"  Have  these  people  any  right  to  turn  me  away  ?  I  have 
three  second-class  tickets."  The  guard  made  me  a  rough 
and  foolish  answer,  for  he  said,  "  Do  you  know  that  the 
gentleman  is  Baron  B.,  and  the  lady  Baroness  B.  ? "  I  was 
not  one  to  admire  this  stupid  worship  of  nobility,  and  was 
in  no  humour  to  answer  in  a  suitable  manner,  but  I  could 
not  help  thinking  that  the  vulgar  phraseology  in  which 
this  man  and  woman  spoke,  and  their  coarse  behaviour, 
were  more  suggestive  of  a  Bavarian  coachman  and  a  cook, 
than  a  baron  and  a  baroness  of  high  birth.  A  good  many 
carriages  had  to  be  attached  to  the  tram,  and  this  caused 
a  delay  of  some  ten  minutes  before  the  train  started, 
during  which,  however,  the  guard  had  not  the  charity  to 
secure  a  seat  for  the  lunatic.  He  had  not  yet  got  his 
fee,  for  I  was  surrounded  by  an  inquisitive  crowd,  and 


364  THE  NORTH  STAR 

was  afraid  to  give  it  him  publicly.  "We  only  take 
geese  and  fools,  when  they  pay  for  an  extra  coupe"  said 
the  brutal  fellow,  and  as  I  had  had  to  squander  money  on 
every  side  since  I  had  left  Trieste,  in  order  to  get  along 
at  all,  my  little  capital  had  dwindled  down  to  so  small  an 
amount  that  I  could  not  pay  for  a  coupe.  Many  of 
the  crowd  around  us  were  mocking  at  my  poor  protegee, 
and  all  the  mockers  spoke  my  mother  tongue !  I  felt  as 
if  I  must  sink  down  upon  the  ground  and  die,  that  I 
might  hear  no  more.  "  This  journey  is  a  martyrdom !  " 
I  exclaimed  ;  "  how  rough  and  pitiless  people  are  in  this 
country ! "  "  Don't  forget,  madam,"  said  a  foreigner,  an 
Englishman  by  appearance,  "that  you  are  in  Bavaria, 
where  the  people  are,  indeed,  dreadfully  rough,  but  it  is 
not  the  same  all  over  Germany."  At  this  the  coarse 
baron  and  baroness  stretched  their  heads  out  of  the 
carriage  and  called  the  speaker  "a  dog  of  an  English 
foreigner,"  and  the  guard  repeated  what  they  said.  The 
Englishman  then  added  an  expression  of  regret  that  he 
could  not  assist  me,  as  he  was  on  his  way  to  Tyrol,  but,  in 
my  destitution,  I  found  help  and  compassion  at  last,  as 
Providence  never  forsook  me,  and  always  would  find 
friends  for  me  in  all  emergencies.  Three  gentlemen,  one 
of  whom  I  knew,  presently  made  their  way  through  the 
inquisitive  crowd,  and  said,  "  Bring  your  poor  friend  to 
our  carriage,  madam,  we  beg  of  you."  The  station- 
master,  who,  although  the  chief  official  in  the  place,  had 
behaved  just  as  insolently  as  the  guard,  tried  to  protest 
against  this  arrangement.  But  the  gentlemen  told  him 
that  hundreds  and  thousands  of  poor  creatures,  suffering 
in  a  similar  manner,  had  to  be  brought  by  railway  to 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  CR088.  365 

asylums  or  other  places,  and  that,  if  the  lunatic's  good 
escort  had  succeeded  in  giving  the  guard  a  secret  fee,  as 
she  had  given  to  his  colleague  at  Innsbruck,  he  would 
have  been  much  more  civil  and  obliging.  The  gentlemen 
had  evidently  noticed  that  I  bribed  the  guard  when  entering 
the  train  at  that  place,  and  they  now  gave  me  the  most 
effective  assistance  in  getting  the  lunatic  to  the  carriage. 

Every  moment  I  expected  that  the  gentleman  whom  I 
knew  would  recognise  me,  bat  he  did  not  do  so.  He  had 
known  me  as  a  child,  but  he  had  not  seen  me  for  so  long 
that  I  had  grown  out  of  his  memory.  This  new  protector 
was  Dr.  Duhr,  from  Boppard,  on  the  Rhine,  not  far  from 
my  home,  and  he  and  his  two  friends  were  returning  from 
Rome,  where  they  had  been  as  delegates  to  congratulate 
his  Holiness  the  Pope  on  his  jubilee. 

The  disagreeable  scene  at  Rosenheim  had  shaken  my 
nerves  a  good  deal,  and  I  now  also  felt  the  absence  of 
sleep  and  comfort  very  much.  Since  I  had  left  the 
steamer  Minerva,  I  had  had  no  opportunity  to  undress, 
and  not  a  single  hour  of  rest.  All  my  luggage,  except  a 
little  travelling  trunk,  had  been  left  behind  me  at  various 
places.  Part  of  it  was  at  Trieste,  and  part  I  had  had  to 
leave  at  Matrei  after  the  railway  accident.  I  had  lost  a 
good  many  trifles  (nearly  all  my  pocket-handkerchiefs,  for 
instance)  on  the  way  from  Trieste,  and  now  I  began  to 
fear  that  I  should  lose  my  own  reason  and  my  own  senses. 
Since  I  had  entered  Germany,  I  was  annoyed  everywhere 
by  rough,  insolent  people,  which  made  my  charge  of  the 
poor  lunatic  more  arduous  than  ever,  and  confused  my 
brain.  Several  times  I  was  on  the  point  of  revealing  my 
home  to  Dr.  D.,  but  I  could  not  have  done  so  without 


366  THE  NORTH  STAR 

telling  him  also  of  the  agitated  and  eventful  life  I  had  led 
since  my  childhood,  and  for  that  I  had  at  the  moment 
neither  the  strength  nor  the  nerve.  The  last  excitement 
at  Rosenheim  had  made  me  very  feverish  and  given  me  a 
bad  headache.  Presently,  too,  I  felt  chilly,  and  the  ner- 
vous shivering  from  which  I  had  suffered  on  the  night  of 
the  fire  in  the  Adriatic  Sea  returned  upon  me.  I  tried  to 
hide  my  suffering,  but  I  could  not,  and  finally  burst  into  a 
fit  of  hysterical  weeping.  Dr.  D.,  to  whom  I  had  been 
taken  as  a  child  by  my  dear  mother,  was  again  my  doctor, 
without  knowing  who  his  patient  was.  I  saw  that  he  had 
not  the  slightest  suspicion  of  my  identity.  He  gave  me 
something  to  soothe  my  nerves,  and  showed  much  con- 
cern about  me.  Miss  C.  was  very  rough  at  the  time,  and 
once,  when  she  was  feigning  sleep,  she  suddenly  gave  me 
a  violent  blow  in  the  face,  and  she  also  attempted  to  stran- 
gle my  pretty  dancing  pigeons.  Dr.  D.  changed  seats 
with  me,  and  placing  himself  between  me  and  the  lunatic, 
protected  me  from  her  violence. 

"  Fou  have  a  difficult  task  on  hand,  a  terrible  trial  of 
patience,"  he  observed.  "  Have  you  come  from  a  long 
distance  ? " 

"  From  the  East  Indies,"  was  my  reply. 

"  From  the  East  Indies  ! "  he  repeated  in  astonishment. 
"  No  wonder  your  nerves  are  so  weakened.  And  where 
are  you  taking  the  unhappy  creature  ?  " 

"  To  Munich,"  I  said,  hesitating  a  little.  "  At  least  I 
hope  I  may  not  have  to  take  her  any  farther." 

Dr.  D.,  like  the  gentleman  that  he  was,  asked  me  no 
further  questions,  but  merely  added,  "  I  am  glad,  madam, 
that  your  anxieties  and  tears  will  so  soon  be  over  now.  If 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CEO 88.  367 

I  can  do  anything  for  you  in  Munich,  it  will  give  me 
great  pleasure." 

"  Thank  you,  sir,"  1  said,  and  as  I  spoke  we  passed  the 
last  station. 

"  Munich  ! "  soon  rang  out,  the  train  stopped,  the  guard 
opened  the  door.  Dr.  D.  sprang  out  of  the  carriage  first,  and 
engaged  for  me  &  fiacre.  Before  the  gentlemen  left,  I  held 
out  my  hand  to  Dr.  D.  and  said,  "  Best  thanks,  Dr.  Duhr ; 
I  am  Miss  Weppner  from  K.,  on  the  Rhine,  and  have 
been  in  your  house  with  my  mother  when  a  child." 

"  Miss  Weppner !  "  he  exclaimed,  surprised  and  re- 
proachful ;  "  why  did  you  not  tell  me  so  before  ? " 

"  I  could  not,  doctor,"  I  replied ;  "  it  would  have  been 
too  painful  and  difficult  to  tell  you  all  I  have  gone 
through  since  then,  and  on  this  journey." 

"  Where  are  you  going  now ;  is  there  nothing  I  can  do 
for  you  in  Munich  ?  " 

"  Nothing,  thank  you,  doctor,"  I  replied;  "I  am  going 
straight  from  here  to  the  English  ambassador,  to  try  and 
get  my  poor  protegee  into  a  medical  establishment." 

"  Are  you  soon  coming  to  K.  ?  " 

"  I  hope  so,  I  am  longing  to  see  my  mother." 

This  was,  however,  no  place  for  further  conversation  ;  a 
crowd  of  people  had  already  assembled  to  stare  at  Miss 
Cosserat,  it  was  time  for  me  to  be  off.  Dr.  D.  and  his 
two  friends  pressed  my  hand  warmly,  and  left  me  with 
the  words,  "  Au  revoir  on  the  Rhine." 

I  told  the  coachman  to  drive  to  some  suitable  place  where 
I  could  leave  my  trunk  in  security,  and  get  something  to 
eat,  but  not  to  a  hotel ;  and  the  good  man  took  me  to  a 
small  and  respectable  restaurant  in  a  very  quiet  street. 


368  THE  NORTH  STAR 

I  told  the  coachman  to  wait,  sent  for  the  landlady  of  the 
house,  and  asked  for  a  private  room.  I  then  dressed 
myself,  took  down  the  address  of  the  English  ambassador 
from  a  Munich  directory,  and  a  quarter  of  an  hour  later 
drove  there,  accompanied  by  Miss  Cosserat  and  my 
servant. 

His  Excellency,  Sir  H.  F.  Howard,  was  at  home,  so  I 
sent  in  my  card,  and  begged  for  an  interview.  I  was  ad- 
mitted, and  Sir  H.  F.  Howard  soon  joined  me  in  the  room 
in  which  I  was  waiting.  I  rose,  bowed,  and  handed  him 
the  letter  from  the  English  consul-general  at  Trieste. 

On  my  journey,  I  had  heard  it  said  amongst  English 
people,  that  the  English  ambassador  at  Munich  was  a 
Roman  Catholic,  a  strict  Ultramontane  to  boot,  and  I  was 
in  most  anxious  suspense  as  to  how  his  Excellency 
would  receive  and  treat  the  sad  story  of  a  Protestant 
English  lady,  who  was  the  heroine  of  a  complicated 
monastic  affair. 

Sir  H.  F.  Howard  read  the  letter,  walked  up  and  down 
the  room  very  thoughtfully  several  times,  put  several 
questions  to  me,  and  then  asked  for  the  letter  of 
authority  from  the  lunatic's  father.  I  handed  it  to  him, 
he  read  it,  was  silent  a  moment,  and  then  said,  "Miss 
W.,  I  am  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  I  know  the  convent  at 
Nymphenburg.  It  is  the  will  of  Mr.  Cosserat,  the  father 
of  the  young  lady  in  your  charge,  of  Patna,  India, 
that  his  lunatic  daughter  should  be  taken  to  that  convent ; 
she  is  expected  there,  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  convent 
in  question  is  a  very  good  one.  I  cannot  second  you  in 
taking  the  lunatic  to  a  medical  establishment,  for  it  is 
the  father,  not  I,  who  has  control  over  his  daughter. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  369 

Moreover,  as  a  Catholic,  I  cannot  and  will  not  do  anything 
to  annoy  the  Catholic  nuns  of  Nymphenburg.  You  had 
better  therefore  take  Miss  Cosserat  to  them." 

One  question  had  led  me  to  believe  that  Sir  H.  F.  Howard 
took  me  for  a  Protestant,  and  now  to  show  the  ambassador 
what  my  own  feelings  were  in  the  matter,  I  said  with 
quiet  earnestness :  "  And  I,  too,  your  Excellency,  am  a 
Catholic,  but  it  seems  to  me  a  cruel  injustice  that  this 
poor  young  lady,  who  is  a  Protestant,  should  be  taken  to  a 
Catholic  convent.  Many  doctors  have  told  me  that  she 
might  be  cured  in  a  medical  establishment ;  why,  then, 
should  we  be  guilty  of  the  injustice  of  burying  her  in  a 
convent  ?  Her  proper  place  is  not  there,  but  in  an  asy- 
lum. Her  father  does  not  know  where  he  is  sending  his 
daughter.  All  that  he  does  is  done  on  the  advice  and  in 
accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  Lady  Superior  of  the 
convent  of  Patna,  in  which,  as  I  believe,  the  poor  creature 
lost  her  reason.  The  father,  as  I  must  guess  from  his 
conduct,  is  indifferent  to  the  fate  of  his  lunatic  child.  His 
daughter,  however,  is  an  English  subject,  and  has  a  right 
to  the  protection  of  the  English  authorities." 

Sir  H.  F.  Howard  listened  to  me  very  quietly,  and  his 
language  and  manner  throughout  the  interview  were  per- 
fectly polite,  but  he  declared  again,  and  this  time  very 
positively,  that  as  a  Catholic  he  could  not  meddle  in  the 
matter.  The  hope  that  I  had  cherished  since  I  left  Bom- 
bay of  getting  my  poor  charge  into  a  medical  establishment 
was  entirely  destroyed  by  what  the  English  envoy  said, 
for  I  had  myself  neither  the  power  nor  the  means  to  do 
what  I  wished  for  the  poor  forsaken  creature,  and  I  felt 
very  disappointed  and  sad. 

VOL.  n.  24 


370  THE  NORTH  STAR 

However,  as  I  was  still  ignorant  of  what  was  at  the 
root  of  this  mysterious  monastic  affair,  and  what  was  the 
aim  of  this  strange  dismissal,  prudence  dictated  that  I 
should  do  nothing  in  the  matter  without  due  caution.  To 
secure  myself  from  possible  consequences,  and  possible 
suspicions,  I  thought  it  advisable  not  to  give  Miss  Cosserat 
into  the  hands  of  the  Lady  Superior  at  Nymphenburg 
without  witnesses,  that  no  doubt  might  subsequently  be 
thrown  upon  my  having  transferred  the  lunatic  to  her. 
The  Roman  Catholic  Church  absolves  from  all  sins ;  mys- 
terious and  terrible  facts  reach  the  public  from  behind 
sacred  walls,  and  the  most  awful  confessions  are  sealed 
secrets  to  monks  and  priests.  I  myself  knew  from  expe- 
rience the  dictum  of  many  nuns :  "  Those  who  serve  us, 
must  know  how  to  practise  the  virtue  of  silence." 

I  told  his  Excellency,  in  the  plainest  language,  what  my 
thoughts  and  doubts  were  respecting  the  unhappy  history 
of  my  -  poor  protegee,  and  begged  him  to  let  me  have  a 
witness  to  accompany  me  to  the  Convent  of  the  Angelic 
Sisterhood  at  Nymphenburg. 

The  ambassador  commended  my  caution,  but  said  there 
was  no  attache  of  the  embassy  at  hand,  just  then  ;  that 
there  was  no  one  he  could  spare,  but  a  man-servant.  I 
now  remembered  that  I  was  recommended  to  Professor 
Haug,  by  Pastor  D.,  of  Bombay,  and  told  his  Excellency 
that  I  would  go  and  ask  that  gentleman's  advice.  Sir  H.  F. 
Howard,  as  it  seemed,  was  very  glad  to  hear  it,  for  at  the 
moment  he  had  no  greater  wish  than  to  be  well  quit  of 
this  far  from  brilliant  affair.  He  himself  sought  out  Dr. 
Haug's  address  in  the  directory,  and  when  I  thanked 
him,  bowed,  and  withdrew,  he  doubtless  thought  the 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CR088.  371 

matter  was  really  settled.  But  before  many  hours  were 
over,  his  Excellency  saw  a  second  person  arrive  in  a  more 
sacred  garb  than  mine,  who  came  to  seek  advice  and  assist- 
ance from  the  scrupulous  gentleman,  who,  as  a  one-sided 
Catholic,  had  thought  only  of  the  interests  of  the  convent, 
and  not  of  the  misery  of  a  poor  countrywoman  —  a  for- 
saken orphan, 

I  had  left  Miss  Cosserat  in  the  carriage,  under  the  care 
of  the  servant,  that  she  might  cause  no  disturbance  in  the 
embassy,  and,  although  the  ambassador  knew  this,  he  had 
not  the  compassion  to  see  the  poor  creature.  No!  he 
could  not  see  the  unfortunate  Englishwoman ;  his  heart 
was  entirely  Roman  Catholic,  and  I  had  failed  to  touch 
it. 

Grieved  and  disappointed,  I  drove  to  the  residence  of 
Professor  Haug,  to  find  the  gentleman  engaged  in  giving 
a  class  a  lesson  in  Sanskrit,  and  Mrs.  Haug  gone  to  a 
bathing-place.  The  professor,  however,  left  his  study, 
and  hurried  to  welcome  me.  Unfortunately,  the  letter 
from  his  friend  had  been  left  behind  at  Matrei,  Tyrol,  in 
one  of  my  trunks,  so  I  had  nothing  but  myself  to  present. 
My  letter  from  Alexandria  had  been  received,  and  I  pro- 
ceeded briefly  to  relate  the  history  of  my  poor  protegee, 
which  I  had  already  told  I  know  not  how  many  tunes, 
winding  up  with  the  interview  with  Sir  H.  F.  Howard, 
the  English  ambassador,  and  my  wish  for  a  witness  to 
accompany  me  to  the  convent  of  Nymphenburg.  In 
about  ten  minutes,  Professor  Haug  had  found  me  a  trust- 
worthy man,  who  was  to  serve  as  a  witness,  together  with 
rny  own  servant.  They  were  both  honest  young  fellows, 
and  I  instructed  them  to  follow  every  step  of  mine  in  the 


372  THE  NORTH  STAR 

convent,  and  to  reply  to  no  questions  relating  either  to  me 
or  to  the  invalid. 

We  then  drove  along  the  beautiful  Nymph  enburg  road 
to  the  convent  at  Nymphenburg,  which  is  one  hour's  dis- 
tance from  Munich. 

During  the  drive  there,  Miss  C.  asked  me  if  we  should 
soon  be  in  England,  and  she  looked  about,  and  talked  as 
if  she  expected  to  see  Scarborough,  and  the  blue  sea.  I 
thought  it  advisable  to  prepare  the  poor  creature  for  the 
sight  of  the  Catholic  nuns  she  so  much  dreaded,  and  told 
her  we  were  going  to  the  house  of  a  friend  of  the  Lady 
Superior  at  Patna.  She  looked  at  me  fixedly,  and  said 
piteously,  "  Miss  W.,  you  don't  mean  to  say  you  are  taking 
me  to  Catholic  nuns  again  ? "  I  was  silent,  and  my  servant 
Johann,  who  understood  no  English,  asked  me  "why 
the  young  lady  suddenly  looked  so  frightened."  The 
poor  creature  is  afraid  of  the  nuns,  and  what  can  I  do  but 
take  her  to  the  convent  at  Nymphenburg?  My  heart 
aches  for  her,  but  I  have  no  power  to  do  what  I  wish 
to  do  for  her,  and  he  who  has  power  refuses  me  his 
assistance. 

The  coachman  now  drew  up  at  an  old  building,  which 
formerly  belonged  to  his  late  Majesty  Louis  I  of  Bavaria, 
and  had  been  presented  by  him  to  the  order  of  the  Angelic 
Sisterhood,  and  by  them  devoted  to  the  use  of  their  mother 
institution. 

My  heart  beat  quickly  as  I  looked  at  the  lofty,  gloomy 
walls  of  this  royal  building,  and  I  embraced  my  poor 
protegee  with  deep  emotion,  for,  in  spite  of  all  the  fear 
and  suffering  I  had  endured  at  her  hands,  I  had  learnt  not 
only  to  pity,  but  also  to  love  the  unfortunate  lunatic 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  373 

from  my  heart,  and  I  felt  for  her  the  attachment  of  a 
sister,  so  that  the  thought  that  these  gloomy  walls  were  to 
be  her  future  home  was  most  painful  to  me. 

The  poor  creature  was,  however,  still  far,  far  from  a 
home,  and  the  one  she  finally  found  was  no  better  in  its 
kind  than  that  she  had  left  in  India. 

A  nun,  who  acted  as  portress,  came  to  the  door,  and 
when  she  saw  us  she  looked  terrified,  and  asked,  "  What 
do  you  want  here  ? "  "I  am  commissioned,"  I  replied, "  to 
give  this  young  lady,  Miss  Rachel  Cosserat,  from  the  Con- 
vent of  the  '  Angelic  Sisters '  at  Patna,  in  India,  into  the 
care  of  the  Right  Reverend  Lady  Superior  of  the  Convent 
of  the  Angelic  Sisters  atNymphenburg.  The  young  lady 
is  a  lunatic ;  her  approaching  arrival  has  already  been  an- 
nounced, and  I  beg  of  you  to  let  the  Right  Reverend 
Lady  Superior  know  that  I  am  here." 

"  We  know  nothing  about  the  arrival  of  any  such  per- 
son," said  the  nun  sullenly.  "  The  coming  of  no  Miss 
Cosserat  has  been  announced  to  us,  and  we  will  not  re- 
ceive her." 

"  Then  please  announce  her  now,"  I  said.  "  I  have 
certain  documents  to  show  to  the  Right  Reverend  Lady 
Superior,  and  I  wish  to  see  her." 

"  The  Right  Reverend  Lady  Superior  is  away,  and  the 
Reverend  Lady  Superior,  the  second  in  authority,  who 
takes  her  place  during  her  absence,  is  ill,  and  cannot  see 
anybody,  so  that  it  will  be  better  for  you  to  go." 

"  ]S  o !  "  I  replied  earnestly ;  "  I  cannot  go.  To  my 
extreme  regret,  I  have  no  choice  but  to  insist  upon  the 
reception  of  the  young  lady ;  this  is  her  destined  home, 
and  I  am  compelled  to  give  her  up  here.  I  am  a  stranger 


874  THE  NORTH  STAR 

here,  and  do  not  know  where  else  to  take  the  poor  crea- 
ture." 

"  Take  her,"  said  the  nun,  in  an  imperative  tone,  "  to  a 
hotel  in  Munich !  " 

"  No ! "  I  rejoined ;  "  a  hotel  in  Munich  is  no  suitable 
place  for  a  lunatic  who  is  almost  dying  of  weakness.  A 
convent  is  not  a  proper  place  for  her  either,  but  as  the 
English  ambassador  has  refused  me  his  assistance  to 
procure  a  better  one  for  her,  I  have,  I  must  repeat,  no 
choice  but  to  bring  her  to  this  institution,  where  her 
father  ordered  her  to  be  taken  and  not  to  a  hotel  in 
Munich." 

"  Then  take  her  to  a  hotel  in  Yienna,  or  Paris,"  cried  the 
nun,  and  shut  the  gate. 

I  had  heard  enough  to  be  convinced  that  this  rough 
dismissal  was  premeditated  —  premeditated  here,  and  I 
had  no  doubt  also  in  the  convent  of  the  Angelic  Sisters 
at  Patna,  in  India. 

"What  was  I  to  do  ?  The  sun  had  set ;  it  was  getting 
dark ;  and  the  miserable  lunatic  was  lying  on  the  bare 
ground  in  the  street  before  the  gate  of  the  Royal  Convent. 

"  These  are  monastic  intrigues,"  said  one  of  the  men. 
"  They  knew  well  enough  that  the  young  lady  was  com- 
ing, but  they  choose  to  know  nothing."  The  worthy  fel- 
low added  a  good  deal  more,  and  mentioned  the  subject  of 
Barbara  Ubryk,  whose  monastic  drama  I  had  read  in  the 
New  York  papers  two  years  before,  and  my  honest  and 
simple-minded  servant  Johann  added,  "Ah,  they  tho- 
roughly understand  how  to  drive  people  mad  in  convents. 
.To  deceive  and  avoid  telling  the  truth,  is  the  greatest 
monastic  talent  that  exists." 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  375 

"  "What  shall  I  do  ? "  I  exclaimed  with  a  sigh,  for  I  was 
at  my  wits'  end,  and  was  convinced  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  persuade  the  English  ambassador  to  inter- 
fere in  the  interest  of  this  poor  Protestant  lady.  Indeed, 
perhaps,  he  too  had  a  suspicion  of  a  monastic  secret,  which 
would  account  for  his  caution. 

I  did  not  know  what  to  do,  and  I  looked  out  into  the  dark 
night,  feeling  as  if  the  world  were  upon  my  shoulders. 
I  could  not  go  to  a  hotel,  for  I  knew  my  charge's  in- 
sane love  of  fire,  and  I  ought  not  to  endanger  the  lives  of 
others.  A  public  place  was  no  asylum  for  a  lunatic; 
besides  which,  her  father's  money  was  almost  exhausted, 
and  I  had  still  to  pay  my  servant's  wages,  and  his  return 
journey,  for  which  the  balance  I  still  had  was  insufficient. 
I  had  half  a  mind  to  go  back  to  the  English  ambassador ; 
but  I  rang  once  more  at  the  convent  door,  without 
knowing  why.  Meanwhile,  the  poor  lunatic  knew  nothing 
of  what  was  going  on  before  her,  and  not  having  seen  the 
nun,  who  had  been  half  hidden  behind  the  door,  she  had 
no  suspicion  that  she  was  in  front  of  a  convent.  When  I 
rang  a  second  tune,  therefore,  and  no  one  came,  guessing 
that  I  wanted  to  get  in,  she  suddenly  pulled  the  bell  with 
great  violence,  and  rattled  at  the  door.  Presently  it  was 
opened  by  the  same  nun,  who,  though  herself  in  the 
shadow,  started  back  behind  the  door,  on  finding  herself 
face  to  face  with  the  lunatic,  and  at  that,  not  perceiving 
the  nun  in  the  dark  passage,  Miss  Cosserat  marched  in, 
instinctively  made  her  way  towards  a  burning  lamp,  and 
walked  direct  to  the  large  drawing-room  of  the  convent, 
on  the  right  of  the  entrance,  the  door  of  which  stood  open. 
I  followed  her,  and  the  two  servants  followed  me.  Mean- 


376  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

while  the  nun  had  recovered  from  her  fright,  and,  leaving 
her  retreat  behind  the  door,  had  given  the  alarm. 

The  drawing-room  was  lighted,  and  Miss  Cosserat 
with  regal  and  dignified  steps  walked  up  to  a  fine  painting, 
testified  her  admiration  of  it  with  grotesque  gestures,  and 
then  knelt  before  it  on  the  ground  with  her  arms  uplifted 
towards  it.  I  had  often  previously  remarked  that  the 
lunatic  had  a  great  enthusiasm  for  the  art  of  painting,  and 
often  seemed  to  worship  an  attractive  picture  as  something 
Divine. 

When  she  had  finished  her  adoration  of  the  picture,  she 
seated  herself  on  a  chair  f  acing  it,  and,  sighing  heavily, 
talked  to  it  in  a  whisper,  and  gazed  at  it  long  and  wist- 
fully. The  entrance  of  the  lunatic  had  created  a  great 
panic  ;  nuns  were  running  backwards  and  forwards  whilst 
doors  were  shut  and  bolted  near  the  open  drawing-room, 
which  had  several  entrances,  so  that  the  poor  creature 
might  not  go  any  farther. 

The  woman  who  had  opened  the  door  to  us  now  came 
in,  and  with  blanched  cheeks  and  uplifted  hands  asked  me 
again  what  I  wanted. 

"  I  came  here,"  I  replied,  to  give  this  young  lady, 
Miss  Rachael  Cosserat,  into  your  hands.  She  is  a  lunatic, 
and  comes  from  your  convent  —  the  convent  of  the 
Angelic  Sisters  at  Patna.  She  was  sent  to  me  at  Bombay 
by  the  Lady  Superior,  Salesia  Reimer,  and  I  have  legal 
authority  from  her  father,  Mr.  James  Cosserat,  of  Blan- 
kipore,  Patna,  to  bring  her  to  the  mother  convent  of  the 
Angelic  Sisters  at  Nymphenburg.  I  have  possession  of 
letters  and  telegrams  from  the  Ladies  Superior,  Salesia 
Reimer  and  Angela  Hoffmann,  as  well  as  from  the  young 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  377 

lady's  father,  Mr.  Cosserat,  which  will  prove  that  I  am 
speaking  the  truth.  I  have  also  a  telegram  of  Mr. 
Cosserat,  in  which  he  informs  me  that  he  has  forwarded 
to  the  Right  Rev.  Lady  Superior  here  a  sum  of  money  for 
the  maintenance  of  his  lunatic  daughter." 

"  Will  you  give  me  those  papers  ? "  asked  the  nun, 
looking  down  at  the  floor,  and  not  in  my  face ;  "  I  am 
the  Reverend  Lady  Superior's  secretary."  "  No,"  I 
replied;  "I  cannot  give  you  the  papers,  for  they  are 
the  only  legal  proof  I  have  that  I  am  right  in  what  I  am 
asserting." 

"  Can  I  read  the  letters  from  the  Ladies  Superior,  Salesia 
Reimer  and  Angela  Hoffmann,  of  Patna  and  Allahabad, 
here?" 

I  gave  her  the  letters,  on  condition  that  she  should 
read  them  in  my  presence,  and  not  take  them  out  of  the 
room. 

The  nun  read  them,  looked  disconcerted,  and  said  both 
handwritings  were  well  known  to  her,  and  she  could  not 
understand  the  matter ;  but,  she  added,  whatever  these 
documents  might  assert,  she  had  orders  from  the  Lady 
Superior  to  tell  me  that  they  would  not  receive  the 
lunatic,  for  her  coming  had  been  announced  neither  by 
the  one  nor  the  other  Lady  Superior  in  India,  nor  had  the 
Lady  Superior  at  Nymphenburg  received  any  money. 

Meanwhile  many  nuns  had  assembled  in  the  room  (my 
servant  Johann  told  me  later  that  there  were  forty-five), 
all  of  whom,  without  a  single  exception,  went  about  with 
deprecatory  gestures,  grumbling,  bewailing,  praying,  and 
declaring  before  God  and  the  Holy  Virgin  that  they  knew 
nothing  about  anything,  and  that  under  no  conditions,  and 


378  THE  NORTH  STAR 

on  no  consideration,  would  they  receive  the  lunatic.  "  If," 
said  several  of  them  behind  me,  "  our  sisters  in  India  have 
committed  any  wrong  or  stupidity,  we  cannot  do  penance 
for  it  at  Nymphenburg." 

The  half  tragic,  half  comic  scene  in  the  drawing-room 
of  the  convent  at  that  moment,  would  have  made  an 
interesting  picture,  if  faithfully  rendered.  At  the  open 
door,  their  hats  in  their  hands,  stood  the  two  young  men, 
whilst  I,  dressed  entirely  in  black,  was  in  the  centre  of  the 
black  and  white  chorus  of  nuns  ;  some  of  them  wringing 
their  hands  in  entreaty,  others  weeping  and  wailing 
around  me,  or  whispering  in  each  other's  ears.  Others 
again,  earnestly  telling  their  beads,  glanced  fearfully  into 
one  corner  of  the  room,  where  knelt  the  poor  lunatic,  with 
uplifted  arms  and  death-like  face,  still  praying  aloud 
towards  the  beautiful  picture  which  had  occupied  her 
attention  ever  since  she  had  entered  the  convent. 

Presently  the  secretary  told  me  I  must  go,  and 
named  a  good  hotel  in  such  and  such  a  street  of  Munich. 
I  did  not  move.  "  Who  are  these  two  men  ? "  she  then 
inquired,  going  up  to  them.  "  One  is  my  servant,"  I 
replied,  "and  both  are  my  witnesses." 

"  You  had  better  go,"  said  the  nun  to  them. 

"  No,"  replied  the  faithful  fellows ;  "  we  are  not  going, 
we  remain  until  this  lady  tells  us  to  go." 

"  Can  I  see  the  Lady  Superior  ?  "  I  asked  for  the  last 
time.  "  The  Reverend  Lady  Superior  is  ill,"  answered  the 
whole  chorus  of  nuns  with  one  voice. 

It  was  now  about  ten  o'clock,  and  I  had  been  standing 
on  one  spot  for  over  an  hour,  yet  no  one  had  offered  me  a 
chair.  Quite  exhausted  with  all  the  exciting  experiences 


A2O>  TEE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  379 

of  the  day,  and  with  the  so  often  repeated  and  tiring 
explanations  which  led  to  nothing,  I  suddenly  felt  the 
approach  of  a  fainting  fit.  The  room  swam  round  me,  I 
tottered  against  the  wall  and  sank  down.  I  did  not,  how- 
ever, quite  faint  away,  for  I  could  still  see  everything,  but 
not  clearly.  It  was  a  strong  attack  of  nervous  giddiness 
which  brought  on  again  the  dreadful  trembling  to  which  I 
had  been  subject  since  that  night  of  terror.  None  of  the 
nuns,  however,  showed  the  slightest  pity  for  me,  but  the 
two  young  men  came  to  my  assistance,  lifted  me  up,  and 
led  me  to  a  chair. 

"  The  poor  lady,"  said  my  servant,  the  good  Tyrolese, 
"  has  not  slept  for  four  nights  and  is  overtired  and  faint." 
All  the  heartless  nuns,  when  they  saw  my  nervous  swoon, 
were  afraid  that  I  should  not  be  able  to  take  the  lunatic 
away,  and  the  "  secretary  "  begged  me  to  let  myself  be 
taken  to  a  carriage,  saying  that  the  air  would  do  me 
good,  and  I  should  get  good  nursing  in  a  hotel. 

Presently  Miss  Cosserat  began  to  wander  up  and  down 
the  room,  stopping  every  now  and  then  in  the  midst  of  the 
chorus  of  nuns,  and  looking  fearfully  and  inquiringly  from 
one  to  another  and  then  at  me. 

When  I  felt  a  little  better,  I  took  my  protegee  by  the 
hand,  and  said,  "  Tou  decline  then  to  receive  this  young 
lady.  I  am  going  away  with  her  without  knowing  where, 
but  the  world  shall  hear  of  the  history  of  the  unhappy 
creature.  I  shall  seek  the  assistance  of  the  authorities, 
and  shall  explain  how  the  poor  foreigner  came  here,  and 
how  she  has  been  forsaken  and  cast  off  alike  in  her  home 
and  in  this  foreign  land.  The  truth  was  concealed  from 
me  in  India,  and  it  is  concealed  from  me  here ;  perhaps 


380  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

time  will  solve  the  mystery  which  is  at  the  bottom  of  the 
drama  of  my  unhappy  charge. 

My  words,  "  I  shall  seek  the  assistance  of  the  authori- 
ties," &c.,  completely  changed  the  aspect  of  affairs  in  the 
drawing-room,  and  brought  about  a  revolution  in  the 
hearts  and  feelings  of  the  nuns.  Their  effect  was  as 
rapid  as  a  flash  of  lightning,  and  the  door  of  the  convent, 
which  had  stood  open  so  long,  was  now  quickly  shut  and 
bolted.  The  secretary,  with  the  words,  :'  Pray,  madam, 
wait  one  moment  longer,"  left  the  room  hastily,  and  the 
other  nuns,  whispering  and  making  signs  to  each  other, 
followed  her  one  by  one.  I  now  again  remembered  the 
words  of  my  friend  Camille,  at  the  convent  of  the  same 
name  at  Augsburg :  "  Quelle  comedie  de  femmes  /" 
Singular  that  the  last  chapter  of  my  journey  round  the 
world  should  thus  correspond  with  the  first.  The  convent 
at  Augsburg,  where  Camille  and  I  had  so  often  wondered 
at  the  infernal  vice  of  hypocrisy  disguised  beneath  spirit- 
ual robes,  is  one  of  the  largest  branch-convents  of  the 
mother  institution  at  Nymphenburg. 

We  were  now  again  alone  in  the  drawing-room,  for  the 
entire  chorus  of  nuns  had  left  the  stage.  The  entr'acte 
was  long,  and  we  remained  undisturbed  for  some  time. 
Miss  C.  (poor,  poor  creature !)  lay  upon  the  ground  asleep 
before  the  picture  she  had  reverenced  so  much.  "  The  play 
is  monastic,  quite  monastic,"  said  the  young  Tyrolese, 
with  the  most  curious  expression.  "Monks  and  nuns  are 
the  best  actors  there  are.  These  pious  women  swore  by 
God  and  the  Holy  Virgin  that  they  had  received  neither 
letters  nor  money,  but  it  is  my  belief  they  have  both." 

It  was  half-past  nine  when  a  nuu,  in  a  state  of  apparently 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  381 

great  excitement,  burst  open  the  door,  and  announced, 
with  an  air  of  much  amazement,  that  the  "secretary" 
who  had  spoken  to  me  before  had  altogether  and  entirely 
forgotten  that  she  had  received  letters  four  weeks  pre- 
viously from  the  Ladies  Superior  at  Patna  and  Allahabad, 
announcing  the  approaching  arrival  of  Miss  Rachel  Cos- 
serat.  In  the  name  of  all  her  fellow-nuns  who  had  treated 
me  so  coldly  and  distantly  during  the  scene  of  the  evening, 
she  now  begged  for  my  forgiveness,  adding  that  the  Rev- 
erend Mother  would  come  at  once  to  welcome  me,  and  to 
apologise  personally  for  this  unfriendly  reception. 

So  the  Lady  Superior  was  no  longer  ill,  and  the  female 
secretary  had  played  her  part  in  a  masterly  manner. 
"Quelle  comedie  de  femmes!  " 

The  Reverend  Lady  Superior  came,  and  with  a  good 
deal  of  wringing  of  hands,  she  declared  how  much  it 
pained  her  to  have  received  me  in  such  an  unfeeling 
fashion,  but  that  the  unpardonable  forgetfulness  of  the 
secretary  was  alone  to  blame.  (What  masterly  lies  !) 

"  The  letters,"  added  the  Lady  Superior,  "  referred  to 
by  Mr.  Cosserat,  in  his  telegrams  from  Patna,  had  all  been 
duly  received."  "And  with  the  letters,"  I  interrupted, 
"  the  money  also  arrived  about  which  Mr.  Cosserat  tele- 
graphed to  me."  The  Lady  Superior  considered  for  a 
time,  and  then,  laying  one  finger  on  her  lips,  she  said, 
"  No,  no  money  arrived  with  the  letters  ; "  on  which  I  con- 
tinued, "  I  am  short  of  money ;  the  sum  given  me  was  only 
enough  for  the  travelling  expenses  of  two  persons.  I  had 
many  unforeseen  incidental  expenses,  and  had  to  bring  a 
servant  here  from  Trieste."  "  Madam,"  replied  the  Lady 
Superior,  in  a  consoling  tone,  "  we  will  take  counsel  to- 


382  THE  NORTH  STAR 

gether,  for  Mr.  Cosserat,  as  I  gather  from  the  letters  of 
the  Lady  Superior  Salesia  Reimer,  is  a  very  rich  man." 
"  The  Lady  Superior  wrote  quite  differently  to  me,"  I 
replied,  "  and  expected  me  to  get  a  free  journey  in  the 
interest  of  the  wealthy  Mr.  Cosserat,"  and  I  then  showed 
the  Reverend  Mother  the  letter  from  her  spiritual  sister 
at  Patna,  in  which  she  comforted  me  with  the  assurance  of 
the  reward  of  Heaven,  and  said  that  if  I  obtained  a  free 
journey,  Miss  C.'s  father  would  allow  me  a  small  recom- 
pense for  my  trouble.  I  also  showed  her  the  telegram  in 
which  Mr.  Cosserat  informed  me  that  he  had  sent,  through 
the  Lady  Superior  Salesia  Reimer,  a  sum  of  money  to  the 
Lady  Superior  at  Nympheuburg,  for  taking  care  of  his 
daughter,  out  of  which  sum  a  small  reward  was  to  be 
paid  to  me  on  the  safe  delivery  of  my  lunatic  charge  at 
the  convent.  "With  regard  to  the  latter,"  I  went  on  to  say, 
"  I  have  informed  Mr.  Cosserat  bv  telegram  that  I  would 

**  o 

receive  no  reward  from  the  Lady  Superior  at  Nymphen- 
burg,  as  the  matter  was  the  affair  of  himself,  and  not  that 
of  any  second  or  third  person  ;  and,"  I  added,  "  that 
gentleman  has  behaved  so  meanly  and  stingily  in  India, 
that  I  did  not  expect  to  receive  anything  from  him  in 
Europe,  and  my  motive  in  bringing  the  lunatic  from  there 
to  here  was  not  money,  for  I  knew  I  should  get  none." 
Indeed,  what  I  had  done  and  endured  for  the  poor  crea- 
ture no  money  could  pay  for,  and  a  higher  motive  than 
love  of  gain  was  required  to  undertake  and  conscientiously 
and  steadfastly  carry  out  such  a  task.  A  kindness  that  is 
paid  for  is  never  so  genuine  and  enduring  as  one  that  is 
disinterested. 

That  the  Reverend  Lady  might  understand  clearly  what 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  383 

my  share  had  been  in  this  mysterious  business,  I  told  her 
honestly  and  without  reserve  that  it  had  been  my  hope  and 
intention  to  take  the  poor  lunatic  to  a  medical  establish- 
ment in  Germany  or  England,  and  that  it  was  the  English 
ambassador,  Sir  H.  F.  Howard,  who  had  disappointed  me 
in  that  hope,  for  he  had  refused  his  assistance,  and  with- 
out it  I  had  neither  the  power  nor  the  means  to  carry  out 
my  plan. 

I  told  her  that  neither  in  India,  nor  on  the  journey,  had 
I  ever  thought  of  bringing  the  unhappy  victim  to  the 
convent  at  Nymphenburg,  and  I  gave  her  to  understand, 
in  the  plainest  terms,  what  my  opinion  was  of  Mr.  Cosserat, 
and  his  private  associate,  the  Lady  Superior  Salesia 
Reimer  —  in  short,  of  the  whole  mysterious  afEair.  I 
assured  her  that  I  had  only  come  to  her  convent  at  N". 
because  no  other  course  was  open  to  me,  and  that  my 
only  comfort  in  my  disappointment  was  the  thought  of 
having  brought  the  poor  creature  from  the  cold  home 
under  a  tropical  sky  to  an  equally  cold  one  in  a  European 
and  better  climate.  "But  she  has  no  home  yet,"  said 
one  of  the  nuns,  in  a  weeping  voice.  The  Lady  Superior 
listened  to  my  fearless  speech  with  an  air  of  pious  amaze- 
ment, and,  when  I  had  finished,  she  said  the  conduct  of 
the  Ladies  Superior  at  Patna  and  Allahabad,  and  of  the 
lunatic's  father,  was  an  unintelligible  and  insoluble  puzzle 
to  her.  '*  Our  Ladies  Superior  in  India,"  she  complained, 
in  a  piteous  tone,  "know  that  this  is  a  royal  convent, 
where  young  ladies  of  high  rank  are  educated,  and  that 
we  cannot  receive  a  lunatic.  What  can  be  the  meaning 
of  it  all  ? "  she  sighed.  "  Just  now,  in  the  excitement  of  the 
declaration  of  his  Holiness  the  Pope's  Infallibility,  when 


384  THE  NORTH  STAR 

the  doings  of  secular  priests,  and  monks,  and  nuns  are  so 
sharply  watched,  a  Protestant  lunatic  is  sent  to  us  !  The 
young  invalid  is  an  Englishwoman;  why  was  she  not 
sent  to  England?"  "That,"  I  replied,  "is  what  I  and 
every  one  who  has  heard  her  history  have  wondered  all 
along." 

And  now  "  His  Reverence  the  Inspector,"  the  spiritual 
adviser  of  the  Angelic  Sisters  of  Nymphenburg,  entered 
the  room,  and  invited  the  Reverend  Lady  Superior  to  a 
conference,  to  discuss  and  decide  what  should  be  done 
with  the  lunatic,  and  where  she  should  be  sent.  I 
earnestly  begged  the  reverend  gentleman  to  send  her  to 
a  medical  establishment,  but  he  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  my 
request.  It  was  late  at  night  when  he  left  the  conference 
of  nuns  to  drive  to  Munich,  and  demand  an  audience  with 
Sir  H.  F.  Howard,  which  was  granted  to  him  at  12  p.  M. 

Meanwhile  two  lay-sisters,  praying  aloud  in  going  to 
and  fro,  got  two  beds  ready  for  us,  one  for  me,  the  other 
for  the  invalid,  in  a  room  opening  out  of  the  drawing- 
room.  I  had  dismissed  the  coachman  and  one  of  my 
witnesses  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  my  servant  Johann,  as 
I  believed,  was  sleeping  somewhere  in  the  convent,  for  I 
had  not  seen  him  for  the  last  hour.  Miss  C.  would  not  be 
undressed,  but  abused  the  nuns  in  a  flood  of  indignant 
terms,  and  if  they  did  not  understand  all  she  said  in 
English,  they  no  doubt  understood  the  term  "  Roman 
Catholics,"  which  she  flung  at  them  again  and  again. 
Meantime  she  was  striking  lustily  about  her,  and  finally 
she  got  into  bed  in  her  clothes,  shawl,  boots,  and  one 
stocking,  holding  the  other  and  a  little  travelling  bundle 
in  her  hand,  the  same  as  that  she  had  held  the  day  I 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  385 

fetched  her  away  from  the  convent  at  Bandora,  near 
Bombay,  and  which  she  seemed  to  honour  as  a  relic,  for 
though  she  cut  up  and  destroyed  many  things,  she  never 
injured  it  or  parted  from  it. 

The  lay-sisters  sat  near  the  lunatic's  bed,  one  of  whom 
told  her  beads  and  recited  litanies,  whilst  the  other  replied, 
and  in  the  drawing-room,  the  door  of  which  was  open,  two 
more  lay-sisters  walked  up  and  down,  also  telling  their 
beads. 

At  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  I  went  to  bed,  and  that 
for  the  first  time  since  I  left  the  Minerva,  four  days 
before. 

I  had  hardly  slept  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  when  an  un- 
familiar voice  woke  me  up.  I  gave  a  terrible  scream,  for 
two  ghostlike  figures  stood  beside  me;  but  after  I  had 
screamed,  and  when,  in  my  terror,  I  was  about  to  cross 
myself,  I  recognised  in  these  two  figures  two  nuns  in  white 
night-dresses  and  very  peculiar  night-caps.  A  night-cap 
on  a  woman's  closely  shaven  head,  as  I  now  for  the  first 
time  observed,  has  quite  a  different  effect  from  one  on  a 
head  covered  with  nicely  plaited  or  luxuriantly  flowing 
hair,  and  at  that  moment,  having  partly  recovered  from 
my  sudden  fright,  I  felt  inconceivably  glad  that  I  had  not 
taken  the  veil  in  the  convent  at  Augsburg,  for,  indeed,  the 
two  nuns  at  my  bedside  looked  more  like  ghosts  than  angels. 
Involuntarily  I  touched  my  own  thick  plaits,  and  felt  quite 
proud. 

"Don't  be  frightened,  dear  madam,"  said  one  of  the 
nuns,  gently  and  softly.  "  It  is  we,  and  we  have  come  to 
speak  to  you.  The  Yery  Reverend  Inspector  of  our  con- 
vent has  come  back.  He  has  had  an  audience  with  Sir 
VOL.  n.  25 


386  THE  NORTH  STAR 

H.  F.  Howard,  the  English  ambassador,  which  was  granted 
him  late  in  the  night  out  of  special  respect." 

Still  looking  at  the  comical  night-caps  of  the  nuns,  it 
occurred  to  me  to  wonder  whether  the  Very  Reverend  In- 
spector, from  whom  this  communication  doubtless  came, 
had  also  seen  them,  and  I  inquired,  not  without  curiosity, 
"  The  Yery  Reverend  Inspector  has  not  been  back  long,  I 
suppose  ? " 

"  No ! "  they  replied ;  "  we  have  only  just  spoken  to 
him.  We  had  a  short  conference  after  his  return,  in  order 
to  decide  what  to  do."  I  was  now  sure  that  he  had  seen 
the  nuns  in  their  comical  and  enormous  night-caps.  I 
could  not  help  laughing  right  out,  and  I  told  my  visitors 
that  their  night-caps  were  so  very  peculiar,  and  quite  a 
novel  sight  to  me. 

"  What  a  child  you  are ! "  exclaimed  the  elder  of  the 
two,  and  the  younger  went  on  : 

"  The  English  ambassador  regrets  our  embarrassment 
very  much,  for  he  is  a  good  Catholic,  and  always  acts  in 
the  interests  of  his  fellow-believers.  He  will  not,  how- 
ever, undertake  the  charge  of  the  lunatic  himself ;  but  he 
offers  to  pay  for  her  maintenance  out  of  his  private  means, 
until  we  have  found  an  asylum  for  her.  But  by  the 
advice  given  by  the  Very  Reverend  Inspector,  we  have 
decided  to  send  the  lunatic  to  the  Convent  of  Cortenbergh, 
near  Brussels,  in  Belgium,  and  we  came  to  ask  you  if  you 
would  be  so  very  kind  and  good  as  to  take  her  there  by  an 
early  train  in  the  morning ;  we  have  already  forwarded 
a  telegram  to  ask  for  her  reception,  and  we  expect  a  quick 
reply." 

When  I  heard  the  word  "convent,"  I  was  indignant 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  387 

and  exclaimed,  "  What  convent  is  that  ?  Why  is  she  to 
be  sent  to  a  convent,  instead  of  to  a  medical  establishment 
where  she  could  be  cured  ?  " 

The  elder  nun  now  took  up  the  cue.  She  was  an 
Englishwoman,  and  did  not  speak  German.  "I  am 
Madame  Delphine,"  she  said,  "  Lady  Superior  of  the 
Loretto  Convent  in  Calcutta,  and  am  at  present  the  guest 
of  the  Yery  Reverend  Lady  Superior  of  this  convent.  I 
know  Mr.  Cosserat,  and  his  poor  daughter  very  well.  I 
brought  up  her  two  sisters  in  my  convent  at  Calcutta, 
where  they  remained  several  years.  Some  years  ago  I 
visited  Mr.  Cosserat  at  Blankipore,  near  Patna  ;  he  is  an 
opium  dealer,  a  very  wealthy  and  generous  man,  and  he 
paid  for  his  daughters'  education  in  princely  style." 

"If  so,  madam,"  I  interrupted,  "Mr.  Cosserat  behaved 
more  like  a  gentleman  to  you  than  he  has  to  others,  and 
was  more  generous  to  you  than  to  his  poor  child.  Look," 
I  added  with  emphasis,  "  at  the  box  of  rags  which  he  gave 
his  daughter  as  an  outfit,  you  will  find  nothing  princely 
in  that ;  he  sent  her  away  worse  provided  for  than  a  servant. 
And  please  tell  me  whether  Miss  Rachel  Cosserat  was  at 
home  when  you  visited  her  father,  and  if  you  knew  her 
mother." 

"  I  knew  nothing  about  her  mother,"  said  the  old  matron; 
"  I  only  saw  her  grandmother,  a  half-caste  woman,  and  at 
the  time  of  my  visit,  Miss  Rachel  Cosserat  was  in  the 
convent  at  Patna,  as  a  pupil  of  the  Lady  Superior  Salesia 
Reimer.  One  of  the  poor  girl's  sisters  whom  I  educated, 
married  an  English  general  in  India,  and  is  now  in 
England  with  her  husband.  I  take  all  the  responsibility," 
she  added,  "  of  the  surrender  of  the  young  lunatic  into 


388  THE  NORTH  STAR 

the  hands  of  the  Lady  Superior  of  the  convent  at  Corten- 
bergh.  I  enjoy  the  full  confidence  of  her  father,  and  he 
knows  what  I  do  for  his  invalid  daughter  is  done  in  his 
interest.  Miss  Rachel  Cosserat  must  leave  this  place, 
and  that  soon,  for  it  is  a  royal  institution,  and  her  being 
here  will  create  an  unpleasant  sensation;  it  was  very 
foolish  to  send  her  here. " 

"  What  sort  of  an  institution  is  the  convent  at  Corten- 
bergh?"  I  inquired. 

"  It  is  an  institution  for  the  reception  of  lunatic  ladies 
of  the  higher  classes,"  she  replied.  "I  have  already 
taken  six  young  English  ladies  there  myself,  and  I  have 
made  the  journey  several  times  from  our  convent  in 
Calcutta  to  Cortenbergh,  of  course  incognita"  she  added, 
"  as  otherwise  I  could  not  have  escorted  the  lunatics 
myself.  The  Lady  Superior  knows  me  quite  well,  and 
the  young  ladies  are  well  taken  care  of." 

"But  not  cured,"  I  rejoined,  and  she  answered  indif- 
ferently, "  I  do  not  know  about  that." 

I  pondered  for  awhile,  and  the  thought  that  these  six 
young  ladies,  who  had  been  brought  (incognite)  from  a 
distant  convent  in  India,  to  Belgium,  had  probably 
lost  their  reason  through  the  instrumentality  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion,  and  the  doings  of  the  nuns  or 
priests,  increased  my  indignation,  and  I  exclaimed  in  an 
excited  manner,  "  Why  were  not  such  unfortunate 
creatures  taken  to  a  medical  establishment,  instead  of  to  a 
convent  ?  What  is  the  secret  of  these  mysterious  pro- 
ceedings ?  How  does  it  happen  that  the  Protestant  Mr. 
Cosserat  is  connected  with  so  many  Roman  Catholic 
nuns?  Can  you  not  tell  me  whether  poor  Miss  Rachel's 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CB08S.  389 

mother  is  still  alive,  and,  if  so,  who  and  where  she  is  ?  I 
should  like  to  appeal  to  her  heart,  and  take  her  unhappy 
daughter  to  her." 

But  no,  the  nun  who  knew  the  father  and  sisters  of  the 
lunatic,  and  had  visited  the  wealthy  merchant  in  his  resi- 
dence at  Patna,  either  could  not,  or  would  not,  tell  me  of 
the  life  or  death  of  his  wife,  the  mother  of  his  child,  and 
neither  here  nor  in  India  could  I  obtain  a  scrap  of  infor- 
mation about  her. 

"  If,"  I  said  to  the  elder  nun,  you  have  already  taken 
six  young  ladies  from  India  to  the  convent  at  Cortenbergh, 
why  won't  you  also  take  Miss  Cosserat  there  from  here  ? " 

"  I  did  so  incognita"  she  said  again ; "  and  this  time  I 
came  to  Europe  for  the  benefit  of  my  health,"  she  replied, 
"  and  cannot  undertake  the  journey." 

"  My  strength,"  I  rejoined,  "  is  exhausted ;  I  doubt  if 
I  can  do  any  more  than  i  have  done  already.  There  are 
a  great  many  women  in  this  convent,  some  hundred  and 
fifty  I  believe ;  is  there  not  among  them  one  nun  who 
would  take  charge  of  the  poor  creature,  and  accompany 
her  to  Cortenbergh  ? " 

"  Oh,  no  ! "  sighed  the  nuns ;  "  what  would  people  say  ? 
How  can  we  appear  in  public  with  a  lunatic  and  a  man- 
servant ?  what  would  be  said  of  us  ? " 

"  When,"  I  said  at  last,  "none  of  the  many  women  here 
will  take  pity  on  the  poor  stranger,  when  all  shrink  from 
appearing  in  public  with  this  unhappy  creature,  and  doing 
her  a  service  of  Christian  love  ;  if  she  shall  and  must  go 
farther,  I  will  be  more  merciful  than  any  of  you.  For 
nine  weeks  I  have  had  no  rest ;  I  am  thoroughly  out  of 
health  ;  but  Heaven  will  give  me  strength  to  go  through 


390  THE  NORTH  STAB 

a  fresh  round  of  suffering,  to  persevere  patiently  until  the 
last  moment,  and  to  bring  my  poor  friend  to  her  foreign 
home.  "  If,"  I  ended,  "  I  could  but  bring  her  to  an  asy- 
lum, where  she  could  be  cured,  such  a  prospect  would  en- 
courage and  strengthen  me  anew." 

The  nuns  looked  delighted,  but  said  that  this  could  not 
be.  They  both  thanked  me  in  most  pious  terms,  and  said 
a  great  deal  about  the  goodness  of  Heaven  in  rewarding 
my  service  to  them,  and  all  my  kindness  and  patience  to 
a  suffering  stranger ;  but  I  told  them  plainly  that  what  I 
did  I  did  not  for  them,  nor  for  a  reward  from  Heaven, 
but  simply  and  solely  out  of  love  and  pity  for  the  poor 
forsaken  girl. 

When  my  nocturnal  visitors  left  me,  it  was  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  although  I  had  no  rest  for  so  many 
nights,  I  could  not  sleep,  I  felt  too  excited. 

The  thought  that  I  must  again  expose  myself  to  the 
mocking  curiosity  and,  as  might  be  the  case  again,  to  the 
gross  insults  of  the  common  people,  that  I  must  again 
undertake  a  difficult  task,  without  being  able  to  accomplish 
anything  for  the  benefit  of  my  protegee,  agitated  me  so 
much,  that  I  could  get  no  rest,  and  in  the  morning  I  was 
more  tired  than  in  the  evening.  I  was  never  alone,  but 
always  surrounded  by  nuns  or  lay-sisters,  praying  or  wor- 
rying me  with  questions,  and  I  was  so  worn  out,  that  I 
did  not  know  if  I  was  in  my  proper  senses. 

Miss  C.  woke  up  in  a  thorough  rage,  and  flung  both  her 
boots  at  me,  one  of  which  struck  me  on  the  nose,  and  set 
it  bleeding  copiously.  The  poor  mad  creature  then 
clutched  hold  of  me,  and  cried  angrily,  "  Why  have  you 
brought  me  to  Catholic  nuns  again  \  "  Some  nuns,  how- 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  391 

ever,  held  her  hands  firmly  from  behind,  and  she  abused 
them  in  the  most  awful  language.  Madame  Delphine, 
the  Lady  Superior  from  Calcutta,  and  several  other  nuns 
who  spoke  English,  understood  the  indignant  terms  in 
which  the  lunatic  inveighed  against  Catholic  nuns,  but 
they  were  silent,  and  seemed  as  though  they  did  not  hear 
her  indignant  remarks. 

Later  in  the  day,  Miss  C.  had  an  interval  of  calmness, 
and  undressed  herself.  The  nuns  were  in  the  drawing- 
room  at  the  time,  and  I  was  alone  with  her  in  the  little 
adjoining  room.  Whilst  I  was  taking  my  breakfast,  she 
seated  herself  at  the  piano,  in  the  dress  of  nature,  and 
played  "  God  save  the  Queen,"  following  it  up  with  some 
difficult  classical  pieces,  and  showing  very  great  skill  of 
execution. 

But  playing,  it  seemed,  excited  her  very  much,  and  she 
made  the  most  horrible  gestures  over  it,  stopping  suddenly, 
and  dancing  and  singing  wildly. 

The  nuns  took  every  precaution  to  prevent  Miss 
Cosserat  from  leaving  the  room,  for  the  fact  that  a  lunatic 
was  in  the  royal  institution  was  to  be  kept  a  secret  from 
the  pupils  of  the  convent.  All  the  doors  near  were 
bolted,  and  my  protegee  and  I  were  kept  close  prisoners. 

Towards  noon  I  inquired  where  my  servant  was,  for  I 
had  not  seen  the  good  Tyrolese  since  the  evening  before. 
To  my  surprise,  I  now  heard  that  the  Lady  Superior  had 
sent  him,  after  the  conference  of  the  previous  night,  to 
the  telegraph  office  in  Munich,  with  a  despatch  to  the 
Lady  Superior  at  Cortenbergh,  and  had  ordered  him  to 
wait  for  the  answer.  He  had  left  at  one  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  it  had  been  calculated  that  a  reply  would 


392  THE  NORTH  STAR 

arrive  in  a  few  hours,  so  that  we  might  leave  the  convent 
at  Nymphenbiirg  early  in  the  morning,  without  attracting 
any  attention.  But  in  this  people  were  mistaken,  for  it 
was  now  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  my  servant 
had  not  yet  returned.  I  knew  that  the  good  Tyrolese 
had  never  before  left  his  native  valley,  and  I  was  afraid 
that,  in  his  inexperience,  he  had  got  into  some  trouble  in 
the  capital  of  Bavaria.  Moreover,  my  pigeons  and  my 
parrot  had  been  quite  alone  in  Munich  ever  since  the  day 
before,  for  I  had  intended  returning  the  same  evening  to 
the  restaurant  where  I  had  left  them  and  my  trunk,  but 
it  had  been  impossible  for  me  to  do  so.  I  forgot  to  tell 
my  reader  that  the  parrot  I  had  taken  out  of  the  nest  at 
Allahabad,  and  which  I  had  brought  up  myself,  and 
taught  to  speak  German,  had  flown  away  from  me  on 
the  Adriatic  Sea,  to  settle  down,  as  I  believe,  on  the 
Greek  coast ;  and  for  the  solitary  male  pigeon,  which  a 
sailor  had  rescued  from  the  murderous  fangs  of  the 
bloodthirsty  dog  on  the  steamer  Golconda,  in  the  Indian 
Ocean,  I  had  bought  a  snow-white  little  wife  in  the 
market  at  Alexandria.  The  mourning  husband  quickly 
accustomed  himself  to  his  new  companion ;  he  gave  her 
instructions  in  dancing,  and  they  lived  together  very  con- 
tentedly and  happily,  and  at  tunes  would  perform  most 
cleverly.  I  was  afraid  they  would  forget  to  feed  the  dear 
little  creatures  at  the  restaurant,  and  I  told  the  Lady 
Superior  that  I  should  go  to  the  town  and  see  that  no 
harm  had  come  to  the  good  Tyrolese  and  to  attend  to  the 
wants  of  my  birds. 

•  But  the  convent  gates,  which  had  stood  open  so  long  on 
my  account  the  day  before,  were  now  firmly  closed  to  me. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  393 

The  Lady  Superior  was  afraid  that  if  I  went,  I  should  not 
come  back,  and  then  who  would  take  the  poor  lunatic  away  ? 
The  nuns  did  all  they  could  to  divert  iny  mind ;  they  took 
me  into  the  chapel,  the  garden,  gave  me  flowers,  an  extra 
glass  of  beer,  &c.,  to  strengthen  me  as  they  said,  and 
I  found  it  impossible  to  leave  the  convent,  and  had  to  wait 
patiently  until  my  servant  returned,  which  he  did  not  do 
before  six  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

"  I  have  no  answer  yet,"  said  the  good  Tyrolese,  "  but  I 
came  back,  anyhow,  because  it  is  wrong  of  me  not  to  have 
seen  Miss  Weppner  for  so  long,  and  I  must  tell  her  where 
I  have  been  since  last  night.  She  took  me  into  her  ser- 
vice, and  I  am  her  servant,  so  I  would  not  wait  any  longer 
for  an  answer  to  the  telegram,  and  I  got  the  official  to  give 
me  a  declaration  in  writing  that  no  reply  has  as  yet  arrived 
from  Cortenbergh." 

All  this  the  sturdy  inexperienced  fellow  said  as  glibly 
as  if  he  had  been  the  lackey  of  a  princess,  and  having  said 
it  Johann  went  outside  and  fetched  my  pigeons  and 
parrot,  and  then  my  trunk,  which  was  in  the  court  of  the 
convent,  finally  presenting  me  with  a  little  account  from 
the  restaurant  where  he  had  taken  a  dinner  and  two  pints 
of  beer. 

I  was  now  very  well  satisfied  with  the  faithful  Tyrolese. 
I  made  my  pigeons  dance,  the  performance  this  time  taking 
place  in  the  large  drawing-room  of  the  royal  convent ;  my 
parrot,  too,  was  present,  consoling  me  with  a  beautiful 
Hindustani  song,  and  I  felt  rather  better. 

The  telegraphic  reply  from  Cortenbergh  came  neither 
that  day  nor  the  following  night.  Johann  was  in  the 
town  from  five  o'clock  A.  M.,  but  not  until  ten  did  he  bring 


394  THE  NORTH  STAR 

the  long-desired  telegram,  for  which  so  many  beads  had 
been  told.  It  was  from  Madame  Gabrielle,  Lady  Superior 
of  the  convent  of  Cortenbergh,  Belgium,  and  addressed  to 
the  Lady  Superior  of  the  Loretto  Convent  in  Calcutta,  now 
in  the  convent  of  Nymphenburg,  Bavaria,  and  was  in  these 
words :  "  Yes,  we  will  receive  her."  Surprising,  indeed, 
that  a  Lady  Superior  from  a  convent  in  Calcutta  (India) 
should  take  upon  herself  to  conduct  the  private  affairs  of 
a  Protestant  gentleman  thousands  of  miles  off,  when  a 
guest  at  a  convent  in  Bavaria  (Europe) ;  and  I  thought 
that  if  this  woman  had  a  right  to  order  the  poor  lunatic  to 
another  place,  without  the  knowledge  and  authority  of  her 
father,  the  English  ambassador  might  have  interfered  as 
well,  and  assisted  me  in  getting  a  poor  Protestant  English 
subject  to  a  better  place  than  a  Roman  Catholic  convent. 
The  excitement  amongst  the  nuns  was  unparalleled,  and 
all  eagerly  hastened  our  departure.  Madame  Delphine, 
the  Lady  Superior  from  Calcutta,  and  four  nuns,  he]ped 
me  to  dress  Miss  C.,  and  this  took  more  than  an  hour.  She 
had  shown  all  the  symptoms  of  an  access  of  madness 
during  the  morning,  and  I  expected  nothing  good.  The 
poor  thing  had  knelt  long  before  the  beautiful  picture  in 
the  drawing-room  with  outstretched  arms,  and  then  had 
flung  herself  on  the  ground,  rolled  about,  and  cried,  "  Miss 
W.,  take  me  away  from  the  Catholics,  take  me  away  from 
these  Roman  nuns ! " 

I  comforted  her  with  the  assurance  that  I  would  take 
her  away,  and  that  we  were  going  immediately.  The  lady 
Superior,  Madame  Delphine,  had  told  me  the  day  before 
that  she  would  accompany  me  to  the  station,  and  see  I  had 
a  private  carriage.  The  Lady  Superior  of  Nymphenburg 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  395 

gave  me  two  hundred  Bavarian  gulden  for  my  travelling 
expenses  to  and  from  Cortenbergh,  telling  me  that  the 
Lady  Superior  from  Calcutta  would  give  her  back  the 
money,  as  she  would  write  to  Mr.  Cosserat  for  money.  It 
was  just  possible,  however,  that  the  "pretended  loan" 
came  out  of  the  sum  sent  by  Mr.  Cosserat  to  Nymphen- 
burg,  and  which  she  had  denied  having  received. 

I  was  told  that  an  express  train  would  leave  for  Cologne 
at  one  o'clock,  and  at  twelve  a  carriage  drove  up  to  the 
door  of  the  convent.  My  servant  and  I  took  the  invalid 
down  to  it,  and  w^  got  in,  the  nuns  telling  us  how  much 
they  would  pray  for  us,  and  then  making  a  sign  to  the 
coachman  to  drive  on.  "  No,  not  yet,"  I  said ;  "  the  Lady 
Superior  from  Calcutta  promised  to  go  with  me  to  the 
station."  "  Oh  dear,  Miss  Weppner,"  exclaimed  that  lady, 
stepping  forward,  "it  is  not  possible;  it  would  be  too 
annoying  to  appear  in  public  under  such  circumstances." 

"  If  you  did  not  mean  to  do  it,  why  did  you  say  you 
would  ? "  I  inquired  earnestly,  adding  sharply,  "  but  did 
you  not  take  six  young  insane  ladies  from  your  convent 
in  Calcutta  to  Cortenbergh,  in  Belgium  ?"  "  Yes,  but  I 
travelled  incognita"  replied  the  saintly  matron. 

"Drive  to  the  town,  coachman,"  I  exclaimed  indig- 
nantly, adding  to  myself,  "  Have  I  ever  heard  the  truth 
in  a  convent  ?  In  large  things  and  small,  nothing  but 
deceit  and  hypocrisy ! " 

"We  soon  reached  the  station  at  Munich,  and  I  went  and 
took  tickets.  To  my  disappointment  I  heard  that  the 
train  starting  at  one  o'clock  was  not  an  express,  but  an 
ordinary  goods  train  with  a  few  passenger  carriages.  I 
hesitated  a  little  before  taking  tickets,  for  I  was  afraid  that 


396  THE  NORTH  STAR 

the  numerous  delays  at  intermediate  stations  might  cause 
inconveniences,  but  I  was  equally  afraid  of  waiting  several 
hours  for  an  express  train.  Nyrnphenburg  was  an  hour's 
drive  distant,  and  I  did  not  want  to  go  back  there  again, 
for  I  was  sick  of  Ladies  Superior  and  nuns — sick  of  their 
hand-wringing,  their  plaintive  voices  and  sanctimonious 
talk.  The  Lady  Superior  of  Nymphenburg  had  a  time 
table  of  the  trams,  and  knew  well  enough  that  no  express 
left  at  one  o'clock,  but,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  us  sooner, 
she  had  told  an  untruth.  But  then  the  lunatic  had  to  be 
sent  on  as  soon  as  possible,  and  here,  as  in  other  similar 
institutions,  deceit  was  the  recognised  rule. 

I  took  three  tickets  for  Wiirzburg,  which  was  as  far  as 
this  tram  would  take  us,  and,  with  the  tickets,  I  gave  the 
conductor  a  fee  which  appeared  to  satisfy  him.  There 
were  two  gentlemen  in  the  carriage  which  we  entered,  one 
of  whom,  at  the  sight  of  the  lunatic,  hurried  out,  whilst 
the  other,  to  whom  I  politely  explained  her  sad  condition, 
remained  and  behaved  like  a  feeling  man. 

It  was  now  one  o'clock,  a  beautiful  day,  the  sky  clear 
and  blue,  and  I  had  not  the  most  remote  suspicion  of  what 
I  had  to  go  through  before  sunset.  Since  we  had  arrived 
at  the  convent  of  Nymphenburg,  my  protegee's  mental 
derangement  had  again  and  again  assumed  the  form  of  rav- 
ing madness,  and  she  was  extremely  irritable  and  violent. 
However,  we  reached  Trechtlingshausen  towards  three 
o'clock,  without  any  special  accident;  and  the  guard 
told  me  we  had  to  change  carriages  and  wait  half  an  hour. 
My  servant  carried  Miss  C.  into  the  waiting-room,  but 
with  a  deal  of  trouble.  I  pointed  out  a  table  to  him,  from 
which  I  removed  the  lucifer  matches,  and  he  placed  the 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  397 

patient  in  a  chair.  In  Bavaria,  however,  where  everybody 
smokes,  there  are  matches  everywhere,  and  I  think  Miss 
C.  must  have  managed  to  get  hold  of  some  from  another 
table,  and  hide  them  before  Johann  set  her  down.  I  asked 
her  what  she  wonld  have  to  eat,  and  went  to  order  what 
she  chose,  but  whilst  I  was  paying  for  it  there  was  a  loud 
and  general  cry  of  "  Fire  !  Fire !  "  I  rushed  in  flying  haste 
to  our  table,  and  flung  myself  upon  the  raving  lunatic, 
whose  dress  was  in  flames.  "Water  and  beer  were  thrown 
over  her  from  every  side,  and  the  fire,  partly  smothered, 
partly  extinguished,  was  got  under.  The  invalid,  disturbed 
in  her  awful  delight,  was  as  wild  as  a  tigress,  she  tore  off 
my  hat  and  veil,  tugged  at  my  hair,  and  kicked  me,  her 
large  blue  eyes  starting  from  their  sockets  in  a  terrible 
manner,  and  her  lips,  from  which  the  most  fearful  language 
proceeded,  literally  foaming  with  rage.  My  servant,  and 
others  who  had  come  to  our  assistance,  tore  the  poor 
creature  away  from  me,  whilst  a  crowd  of  some  hundreds 
gathered  about  me,  some  pitying  me,  and  others  worrying 
me  with  inquisitive  and  ridiculous  questions.  This  sudden 
scene  of  terror  gave  me  a  terrible  nervous  shock,  my  heart 
beat  rapidly;  I  could  scarcely  breathe,  and  my  knees 
knocked  together,  so  that  I  was  obliged  to  hold  them  with 
my  hands. 

"  Take  your  places,"  now  cried  the  guards ;  and  five 
men  carried  the  raving  lunatic,  two  holding  her  feet,  and 
two  her  hands,  whilst  my  servant,  who  was  behind,  held 
her  under  the  arms. 

The  guard,  on  payment  of  a  good  fee,  gave  me  a  coupe 
to  ourselves ;  but  oh,  horror  !  the  raving  lunatic  smashed 
one  window,  and  gave  Johann  such  a  kick  in  the  stomach 


398  THE  NORTH  STAR 

that  he  uttered  a  long  yell  of  pain,  and  said,  panting  for 
breath  and  with  tears  in  his  eyes :  "  Miss  Weppner,  if  you 
were  not  the  kindest  and  most  patient  lady  in  the  world, 
I  should  leave  you  now,  for  it  requires  herculean  strength 
to  defend  my  life  against  this  poor  skeleton.  But  as  you 
do  all  this  out  of  pure  pity,  why  should  I  not  do  as  much 
for  good  payment  and  give  you  what  help  I  can  ?  I  feel 
that  it  would  be  a  sin  to  leave  you,  and  I  stay  entirely  on 
your  account." 

"  Madam ! "  now  exclaimed  the  guard,  "  I  warn  you 
against  a  fresh  access  of  rage  on  the  part  of  the  lunatic." 
"  Hush,  hush ! "  I  replied,  "  she  is  better,  she  is  asleep,"  but 
the  words  were  hardly  out  of  my  lips  when  she  got  up 
from  the  floor  of  the  carriage,  and  with  furious  looks  and 
gestures  flung  herself  upon  the  servant.  Fortunately  the 
herculean  fellow  caught  hold  of  her  hands  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  she  was  powerless,  but  she  bit  his  hands  and  kicked 
him  with  her  foot.  Two  men  ran  to  our  assistance,  and  the 
inquisitive  crowd  shouted,  "  You  must  tie  her  hands,  she 
will  throttle  you  both  ! "  It  seemed  to  me  cruel  to  do  as  they 
said,  but  Johann  insisted  upon  the  necessity  of  it.  The  train 
had  not  yet  started,  and  the  whole  population  of  the  little 
town  had  assembled  to  stare  at  one  unhappy  young  woman. 
"  Here,"  screamed  a  woman,  "  is  a  napkin ;  its  price  is 
eighteen  kreuzers !  "  "  Why  don't  you  say  half  a  gulden  ? " 
(thirty  kreuzers)  shouted  an  old  woman ;  "  they  are  rich 
English  ladies,  they  can  pay  it."  "  Thirty  kreuzers,  then," 
cried  the  other  woman,  and  I  took  the  napkin  and  gave  her 
the  money.  With  the  help  of  some  men  we  now  tied  the 
lunatic's  hands  together,  in  spite  of  her  savage  biting  at 
one  and  another  of  us.  The  train  now  started,  but  the 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  899 

men,  who  were  poor  travellers,  remained  with  us  in  the 
coupe.  I  gave  each  of  them  a  fee,  and  they  stood,  one  at 
the  broken,  the  other  at  the  uninjured  window  of  the 
carriage,  whilst  the  lunatic,  with  her  mouth  wide  open, 
sat  in  one  corner,  making  the  most  awful  grimaces  of 
which  a  human  face  is  capable.  Later,  she  three  tunes  bit 
the  tightly  knotted  napkin  loose,  each  time  we  got  her 
hands  fastened  again  after  a  wild  scene.  "  What  an  awful 
journey  ? "  I  cried.  "  I  dread  the  night !  Heaven  grant 
me  patience ! "  But  the  worst  was  yet  to  come.  We  now 
reached  the  station  of  Gunzenhausen,  which  will  never  be 
forgotten  by  me.  Here  I  learned  that  a  telegram  had 
been  received  a  little  before,  announcing  that  an  express 
train  had  been  wrecked,  and  that  our  train  could  not  pro- 
ceed farther,  as  the  line  beyond  Gunzenhausen  was  strewn 
with  the  debris  for  some  distance. 

We  got  out,  and  by  whom  were  we  received  at  the 
waiting-room  ?  By  the  entire  police  force,  and  the  chief 
magistrate  of  the  police  court  of  Gunzenhausen  !  On  one 
side  an  accident  to  an  express  train  ;  on  the  other,  a  fire 
in  the  waiting-room  at  Trechtlingshausen  had  been 
announced,  as  people  told  me,  and  our  trio  had  been  so 
well  described  to  the  police  that  there  was  no  difficulty 
about  our  recognition. 

I  was  rooted  to  the  spot.  I  doubted  the  evidence  of  my 
senses,  the  very  ground  on  which  I  stood ;  and  I  asked 
my  faithful  Tyrolese  servant  whether  my  eyes  were  not 
deceiving  me. 

"  No,  Miss  Weppner,"  he  replied,  "  you  see  correctly ; 
they  are  the  police." 

"  The  police ! "  I  exclaimed,  hiding  my  face  in  my  hands. 


400  THE  NORTH  STAR 

"  The  police,  at  the  very  door  of  my  home,  never,  never — 
nowhere  did  the  police  ever  approach  me  before.  What 
can  be  the  meaning  of  it  ? " 

"  Madam,"  said  a  man  with  a  sabre  and  shining  buttons, 
"  you  are  my  prisoners,  you,  and  this  cracked  lady,  and 
your  servant." 

"  Of  what  have  I  been  guilty  ? "  I  asked  proudly  and 
indignantly.  "  That  will  appear  presently,"  was  the  reply. 
"  The  magistrate  will  investigate  that  matter,  but  you 
know  better  than  we  do  what  your  crime  is." 

In  a  few  minutes  the  entire  population  of  the  town  was 
at  the  station,  young  and  old,  great  and  small,  women 
laughing  and  shouting,  fools  of  both  sexes,  and  hundreds 
of  screaming  children.  The  magistrate,  a  hard-looking 
man,  with  a  thin  pale  face,  asked  me  for  my  passport,  and 
the  papers  relating  to  the  lunatic  travelling  under  my 
protection. 

I  had  a  passport,  but  in  all  my  travels  since  I  had  left 
New  York,  in  America,  Asia,  Egypt,  &c.,  I  had  never, 
until  I  reached  this  dreadful  spot  in  Bavaria,  been  asked 
for  such  a  thing  by  any  human  creature,  and  the  document 
required  was  in  my  trunk  at  Matrei  in  the  Tyrol. 

"  You  have  no  passport !  "  cried  the  police  officers  and 
magistrate.  "  How  could  you  dare  to  travel  without  the 
necessary  legal  papers  ? " 

I  related  the  railway  accident  in  the  Tyrol,  said  I  had 
a  legal  passport,  and  where  it  was ;  adding  that  the  fact 
of  my  never  having  required  it  was  the  cause  of  the 
document  not  being  amongst  the  papers  in  my  travelling- 
bag.  Neither  police  nor  magistrate  believed  me,  and  I 
was  told  that  an  investigation  would  be  held  respecting 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  401 

me  ;  that  I  was  the  prisoner  of  the  authorities  of  Gunzen- 
hausen  and  could  go  no  farther. 

All  the  teachers  of  languages  of  the  town  were  at  the 
station,  but  amongst  them  there  was  not  one  who  knew 
enough  English  to  translate  the  letter  of  authority  from 
Mr.  Cosserat,  of  Blankipore,  Patna,  India,  and  the  legal 
letters  from  the  English  consuls  in  Alexandria  and 
Trieste.  One  and  all  protested  against  my  being  a  German, 
and,  according  to  rumour,  I  was  an  Englishwoman,  a  rela- 
tion of  the  lunatic,  whom  I  had  brought  away  from  India, 
and  wanted  to  hide  away  somewhere  that  I  might  myself 
appropriate  her  wealth.  All  the  men  and  boys  of  the 
town  who  surrounded  me  in  the  waiting-room  of  the  station 
were  smoking  pipes,  and  the  magistrate  and  police  officers 
cigars.  Every  one  asked  me  what  questions  he  chose ; 
every  one  puffed  fumes  of  tobacco  in  my 'face.  Conscious 
of  my  innocence,  I  replied  to  each  one  in  a  tone  of  injured 
worth  and  injured  pride ;  but  many  called  me  a  fine 
Englishwoman,  a  fluent  orator,  and  the  few  gentlemen  of 
education  in  the  crowd  drew  back  ashamed,  whilst  the 
greater  number  of  those  assembled,  who  did  not  rightly 
understand  my  High  German,  abused  me  in  the  most  in- 
sulting terms  in  a  coarse  Bavarian  dialect.  The  police 
officers,  who  were  rather  donkeys  than  men,  not  only 
tolerated  all  this,  but  derided  me  themselves.  Here  I 
obtained  a  thorough  notion  of  the  position  of  women  in 
Germany,  for  neither  in  England  nor  America  would  a 
woman,  whether  innocent  or  guilty,  have  been  treated 
before  the  eyes  of  the  magistrate  and  police  officers  as  I 
was  in  Gunzenhausen.  The  magistrate  himself  remained 
nearly  two  hours  in  the  waiting-room,  and  was  not 
VOL.  n.  26 


402  THE  NORTH  STAR 

ashamed  to  assert,  before  the  investigation,  that  I  was  no 
doubt  guilty  of  a  wrong-doing  against  the  lunatic,  in 
whom  every  one  insisted  in  recognising  a  near  relation  of 
mine. 

"  "What  I  have  done  for  the  poor  creature,"  I  said,  with 
indignant  pride  and  tears,  "  was  no  crime,  no  wrong,  but 
a  sacrifice ;  a  sacrifice  of  my  rest  and  health.  My  conduct 
is  free  from  all  selfishness,  and  is  the  result  of  the  purest, 
most  disinterested  compassion  to  this  poor,  forsaken 
creature."  "  A  sacrifice !"  repeated  the  magistrate,  with 
a  scornful  expression  and  an  ironical  laugh,  "  a  sacrifice, 
indeed !  We  shall  see  how  noble  your  conduct  has  been. 
You  must  now  go  to  the  town ;  I  must  give  you  into  the 
custody  of  the  police." 

The  trying  scene  in  the  waiting-room,  the  horrible 
fumes  of  tobacco,  and  the  strong  smell  of  beer  emitted 
by  hundreds  of  vulgar  men  pressing  about  me,  had 
entirely  exhausted  me,  for  I  was  no  longer  as  strong  as  I 
used  to  be ;  it  was  too  long  since  I  had  a  really  good 
rest.  I  asked  for  a  carriage,  but  the  policeman  laughed 
and  said,  "  Tender  and  delicate  though  you  are,  the  walk 
to  the  town  will  not  kill  you." 

No,  reader,  the  walk  did  not  kill  me ;  but  it  seemed  to 
me  like  a  "  procession  with  the  cross."  It  was  the  bitterest 
walk  of  my  whole  life,  and  what  my  spirit  then  endured 
is  known  only  to  the  Omniscient.  I  drew  my  poor 
protegee  to  my  side,  and  left  the  waiting-room,  the  police 
leading  the  way,  and  my  servant  behind  me,  followed  by 
a  few  more  policemen,  some  ladies  and  gentlemen,  and 
the  entire  rabble  of  Gunzenhausen.  There  is  much  in 
life  far  worse  to  endure  than  death,  and  death  can  never 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  403 

be  so  painful  to  me  as  was  this  walk.  Had  I  been  a  con- 
demned murderess,  the  people  of  this  town  could  not 
have  treated  me  more  contemptuously  and  insultingly 
than  they  did  now.  The  police  took  me  to  the  hospital, 
where  they  separated  me  from  my  servant,  and  sent  him 
to  prison.  I  insisted  on  the  innocence  of  the  young 
Tyrolese,  and  begged  for  him  to  be  set  at  liberty,  but  in 
vain.  The  heart  of  the  sturdy  son  of  the  mountains 
failed  him  then,  and  he  wept  like  a  child  as  he  was  led 
away.  The  rough  judge  ordered  that  I  should  also  be 
taken  to  prison,  but  the  manager  of  the  hospital  reminded 
him  that  nobody  could  speak  English  to  the  lunatic,  so 
that  it  was  necessary  that  I  should  be  at  hand.  At  that, 
the  judge  pointed  out  a  room,  in  which  a  death  had  most 
likely  just  taken  place,  for  it  was  at  that  very  moment 
being  disinfected  with  chloride  of  lime.  He  ordered  me 
to  enter  it  with  a  contemptuous  sneer,  adding  a  command 
to  a  police  officer  to  keep  watch  at  the  door.  I  declined 
to  go  into  the  room,  however,  telling  the  magistrate  I 
was  no  patient,  and  he  had  no  right  to  shut  me  up 
in  such  dirty  quarters.  The  pale  face  of  the  official 
grew  red  with  anger,  and  he  said  none  but  an  English- 
woman could  be  so  proud  and  self-willed,  and  a  German 
would  not  have  given  him  so  much  trouble.  "  Because," 
I  replied,  "  women  in  England  stand  socially  higher  than 
women  in  Germany,  and,  consequently,  they  possess  more 
pride  and  dignity,  and  are  less  submissive  to  the  indignity 
of  men." 

"  Women,"  observed  one  of  the  policemen,  "  are  miser- 
able creatures  everywhere,  and  you  are  nothing  else,  if 
you  are  three  times  an  Englishwoman ; "  and  the  man 


404  THE  NORTH  STAR 

proposed  taking  me  into  the  room  by  force,  at  which  1 
turned  to  the  magistrate,  and  said,  "  If  you  shut  me  up 
in  that  filthy  den,  you  will  rob  yourself  of  the  pleasure  of 
judging  and  passing  sentence  on  me  to-morrow,  for  I 
could  not  live  in  such  a  foul  atmosphere,  as  I  can  smell 
that  it  is  a  death-chamber.  Imagination,  and  the  bad  smell 
combined,  will  kill  me."  At  this  point,  the  doctor  of  the 
hospital  came  up,  and,  giving  me  a  glance  of  compassion, 
he  said  to  the  magistrate,  "  As  a  doctor  I  must  second  this 
lady  in  her  refusal  to  go  into  that  room  ;  she  seems  to  be 
very  weak,  and  I  pity  her.  Her  language  betrays  con- 
sciousness of  innocence  and  self-respect,  and  I  read  in  her 
eyes  that  she  is  guilty  of  no  wrong ;  their  expression  is 
honest  and  fearless.  She  is  not  yet  convicted  of  any  crime, 
and  she  does  not  deserve  this  shameful  treatment.  More- 
over, she  is  not  a  patient  of  this  hospital,  and  I  protest 
against  her  compulsory  confinement  in  this  unsuitable 
room,  which  neither  you  nor  I  would  enter." 

The  magistrate  looked  at  the  doctor  with  eyes  dilated 
with  astonishment,  but  he  somewhat  changed  his  tone, 
and  let  me  sit  down  on  the  stairs,  to  which  I  was  driven 
by  my  weakness  and  fatigue,  and  he  ordered  the  police- 
man to  keep  watch  over  me  there.  Meanwhile,  poor  Miss 
Cosserat  had  been  taken  away  from  me,  and  shut  up  in  a 
room,  for  the  manager  of  the  hospital  was  warned  to  keep 
us  separate  until  after  the  examination,  and  if  the  invalid 
wanted  me,  I  was  only  to  see  her  in  his  presence,  —  no 
long  conversation  with  her  to  be  held  even  then. 

This  was  certainly  a  stupid  order,  but  the  magistrate 
was  afraid  that  I  should  instruct  the  poor  lunatic  as  to 
what  she  should  say  when  she  was  examined  at  my  trial. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  405 

The  unhappy  creature  kept  calling  for  me,  but  only  in 
the  evening  did  the  manager  of  the  hospital,  accompanied 
by  the  policeman,  take  me  to  see  her.  I  found  her  lying 
on  a  miserable,  dirty  bed,  which  smelt  strongly  of  chloride 
of  lime.  It  went  to  my  heart  to  see  her  on  such  a  couch, 
but,  fortunately,  she  was  unconscious  where  she  was,  and 
her  organs  of  smell  and  taste  were  destroyed.  She  had 
no  idea  either  of  the  tragic  events  of  the  day,  and  could 
not  understand  why  I  was  crying.  She  asked  the  manager 
for  a  flower.  I  was  her  interpreter,  and  I  begged  him  to 
gratify  her  innocent  request,  at  which  he  opened  the  win- 
dow and  called  to  his  wife  to  bring  him  a  few  flowers,  of 
which  there  were  plenty  in  the  garden  near  the  hospital. 
She  did  so,  and  he  gave  them  to  Miss  Cosserat,  who  stuck 
them  in  my  hair,  and  told  me  not  to  cry  any  more. 

It  was  not  until  quite  late  at  night  that  the  people  of 
the  town  left  the  small  open  space  in  front  of  the  hospital, 
and  some  impudent,  inquisitive  women  had  mounted  the 
stairs  on  which  I  was  sitting,  and  reassailed  me  with  scorn- 
ful and  abusive  language,  relating  the  crime  of  which  I 
was  supposed  to  be  guilty,  with  all  kinds  of  different 
variations  and  details.  They  spoke  the  lowest  German, 
applying  the  most  insulting  epithets  to  me,  "  the  criminal 
Englishwoman,"  and  the  policeman  on  watch,  instead  of 
driving  them  away,  took  part  in  their  low  talk.  He  was 
one  of  those  Bavarians  who  drown  money,  heart,  and 
intellect  in  beer,  imbibing  daily  some  twenty  or  more 
glasses  of  heavy  liquor,  and  who  are  nothing  more  than 
automatic  machines  for  the  constant  fermentation  of  malt 
and  hops.  On  the  evening  in  question  my  guard  had  not 
had  his  usual  quantity  of  beer,  and  he  growled  and  cursed 


406  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

most  vigorously.  "  I'd  rather  be  sitting  by  my  pint,"  he 
said  to  the  women,  "  than  watching  over  this  fine  lady  ; 
if  she  were  the  Queen  of  Bavaria  she  couldn't  be  prouder. 
If  she  were  a  girl  now,  like  my  girl,  zounds,  I'd  like  it 
well  enough  to  watch  her,  and  to  miss  my  '  seidel ' "  (a 
Bavarian  measure  for  beer).  It  would  fill  volumes  to  re- 
late all  that  the  policeman  and  the  women  said  in  my 
hearing,  in  the  Bavarian  dialect,  but  finally  Dr.  W.  Red- 
enbacher,  the  good  doctor  of  the  hospital,  who  had  already 
taken  up  my  cause  with  the  magistrate,  appeared  on  the 
scene.  I  complained  to  him  of  the  infamous  language  of 
the  policeman  and  the  women,  and,  turning  to  the  latter, 
he  told  them  what  he  thought  of  them  in  a  contemptuous 
tone,  and  drove  them  down-stairs,  and  out  of  the  hospital. 
He  then  gave  the  policeman  a  good  lecture,  calling  him  a 
"  rude  fellow,"  &c. 

Dr.  W.  Redenbacher  was  the  only  one  of  the  many 
men  with  whom  I  came  in  contact  at  Gunzenhausen  who 
behaved  to  me  like  a  gentleman.  Another  doctor  of  the 
hospital,  who  went  the  round  of  the  wards  late  in  the 
night,  was  a  coarse,  rough  Bavarian,  who  treated  the 
"  Englishwoman  "  as  I  would  not  treat  a  German  dog. 
Dr.  W.  Redenbacher  was,  in  fact,  the  only  human  creature 
in  the  town  who  pitied  me  at  all,  and  believed  in  my  in- 
nocence from  first  to  last.  I  told  him  the  whole  history 
of  the  lunatic  and  of  my  relations  with  her,  adding  that  I 
was  no  Englishwoman,  but  a  German,  and  not  far  from 
my  home.  He  fully  trusted  my  words,  and  it  was  thia 
good  gentleman  alone  who  sustained  my  moral  courage, 
and  who  openly  declared  himself  the  friend  of  the  desolate 
stranger,  in  spite  of  the  suspicions  of .  the  ignorant 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  407 

crowd,  prophesying  that  I  should  triumph  over  them  all, 
and  that  the  magistrate,  police,  and  people  of  Gunzen- 
hausen  would  and  must  be  ashamed  of  the  way  they  had 
treated  an  innocent  woman. 

To  my  astonishment,  the  magistrate  came  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning  to  see  after  his  imprisoned  prey. 
I  was  still  sitting  on  the  steps  of  the  second  floor,  where 
the  sentinel  marched  up  and  down  before  me,  cursing  and 
talking  all  the  time  of  the  loss  of  his  beer  and  his  girl. 
The  magistrate  was  rather  milder  now,  and  told  the  wife 
of  the  manager  of  the  hospital  to  let  me  have  the  use  of 
the  sofa  in  her  room.  I  felt  over-tired,  and  allowed 
myself  to  be  persuaded  to  go  into  the  room  which  was  on 
the  first  floor.  The  policeman  now  stationed  himself  in 
the  open  air,  and  marched  up  and  down  the  courtyard. 
I  had  cried  so  much  that  my  eyes  were  swollen,  and, 
as  nobody  had  thought  that  an  imprisoned  English- 
woman could  want  anything,  I  had  had  nothing  to  eat 
for  supper,  and  felt  very  faint.  The  woman  made  up  a 
provisionally  bed  for  me,  I  took  off  my  dress  and  boots, 
wrapped  myself  up  in  a  long  shawl,  lay  down,  and  was  at 
once  half  lost  in  an  apparently  endless  feather  bed.  It 
was  thrice  as  wide  as  the  narrow  old  sofa,  and  I  soon 
rolled  over  the  edge  of  the  latter,  and  tumbled  on  to  the 
floor,  feathers  and  all.  The  woman  then  put  a  long 
table  against  the  sofa,  and  rearranged  my  couch ;  she 
was  evidently  very  proud  of  her  huge  soft  Bavarian  feather 
bed,  and,  late  as  it  was,  she  extolled  down,  feathers,  every 
item  of  it  in  short,  and  told  me  what  the  whole  feather 
bed  had  cost  her.  Meanwhile,  I  laid  myself  down  again, 
and  after  a  good  deal  more  of  weeping,  fell  asleep  towards 


408  THE  NORTH  STAR 

five  o'clock  in  the  morning.  At  half-past  six  a  noise  at 
the  door  woke  me  up.  I  opened  my  eyes,  and  before  me 
stood  the  pale-faced  magistrate,  followed  by  several 
gentlemen  and  a  lady.  The  fact  of  his  walking  in  at  this 
early  hour  of  the  morning  without  knocking,  without  so 
much  as  an  apology  for  his  intrusion,,  and  without  retiring 
whilst  I  got  up  and  dressed,  is  a  proof  sufficient  of  the 
delicacy  and  respect  with  which  he  treated  me  throughout. 
He  might  as  well  have  let  me  know  when  he  was  coming, 
and  then  I  could  have  got  myself  ready  to  receive  him. 
But  no,  this  Bavarian  magistrate  had  never  learnt  how 
to  treat  a  woman  properly,  and  the  son  of  malt  and  hops 
revelled  in  the  thought  of  the  joy  and  glory  of  being  able 
to  condemn  the  guilty  Englishwoman,  and  his  approaching 
triumph  drove  him  thus  early  into  the  presence  of  the 
imprisoned  foreigner. 

The  whole  of  the  uncivilised  party  remained  and  looked 
on  whilst  I  got  out  of  the  vast  feather  bed  in  which  •  I 
lay  half  hidden.  I  then  arranged  my  shawl  and  gathered 
up  my  ruffled  hair.  I  was  ashamed  to  look  them  in  the 
face,  but  they  had  no  shame  in  looking  at  me,  and  one  of 
them  told  me  not  to  feel  embarrassed,  for  he  liked  to  see 
young  ladies  in  neglige.  To  all  mat  d  propos  remarks, 
however,  I  made  no  reply  whatever,  but  assumed  as  bitter 
and  scornful  an  expression  as  I  possibly  could. 

"  You  are  very  proud,  madam,"  observed  the  magistrate 
presently,  "  and  I  don't  think  you  have  much  reason  to 
be ;  but  that  the  investigation  will  show." 

"  And  you,  sir,"  I  replied,  offended,  "  are  neither  proud 
nor  wise.  If  you  were  proud  you  would  show  more 
politeness  and  refinement  of  feeling  to  a  lady,  and  you 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  409 

would  have  knocked,  as  it  was  proper  to  do,  before  you 
entered  my  room  ;  and  if  you  were  wise  you  would  not, 
as  a  magistrate,  pronounce  any  judgment  before  you  have 
evidence  and  proof  of  my  guilt."  The  companions  of 
the  magistrate,  who  were  all  his  dependents,  eating  his 
bread,  reddened  with  surprise  and  wonder  at  my  bold 
speech,  and  looked  inquiringly  at  their  lord  and  master, 
expecting  him  to  take  some  revenge,  but  he  merely  said, 
"  We  know  the  pride  of  English  people,  but  your  pride 
is  now  before  Bavarian  law,  and  we  shall  see  if  it  has  to 
bend." 

The  party  now  seated  themselves  at  the  long  table, 
whilst  I,  without  boots,  and  with  dishevelled  hair,  was 
seated  behing  the  table  on  the  huge  feather  bed  on  the 
sofa,  holding  my  shawl  together  with  my  hand,  as  I  had 
lost  the  pin.  The  investigation  began,  and  the  lady  who 
accompanied  the  magistrate  took  an  oath  to  translate  my 
papers  faithfully  and  conscientiously.  She  was  a  teacher 
of  the  English  language,  and  read  and  wrote  it  tolerably 
well,  but  spoke  it  very  imperfectly ;  as  a  friend  in  need, 
however,  she  would  pass  muster,  and  she  was  the  only 
person  in  the  town  who  could  perform  the  service  of  in- 
terpreter for  the  judge  in  his  embarrassment. 

To  begin  with,  the  magistrate  read  the  evidence  of  the 
poor  lunatic,  which  had  been  taken  at  half-past  five  in 
the  morning.  To  my  great  surprise,  the  unfortunate 
creature  had  spoken  of  me  in  the  highest  terms,  and  the 
lady  translator  said  that  no  question  could  elicit  any 
other  answer  from  her  than  that  I  was  a  dear  kind  lady, 
who  had  always  treated  her  like  a  sister,  and  that  she 
loved  me  better  than  any  one  else  in  the  wide  world, 


410  THE  NORTH  STAR 

adding  that  Miss  Weppner  was  the  best  German  lady  she 
had  ever  met,  and  that  she  could  never  forget  her  love. 

The  lady  interpreter  was  very  scrupulous  and  conscien- 
tious, and  she  considered  and  weighed  every  word.  The 
examination  began  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
it  lasted  till  one  o'clock  p.  M.  On  the  table  lay  all  the 
telegrams  and  letters  from  Mr.  Cosserat  of  Blankipore, 
Patna,  the  Ladies  Superior  Salesia  Reimer  of  Patna,  and 
Angela  Hoffmann  of  Allahabad,  together  with  the  letter 
from  the  German  consul  at  Bombay,  announcing  to  me 
the  arrival  of  the  lunatic  in  his  office;  that  from  the 
Bishop  of  Bombay  to  the  German  consul  about  the 
pills,  <fcc.,  that  from  the  Superintendent  of  the  Pacific  and 
Oriental  Company,  and  all  the  various  documents  from 
the  Engh'sh  consuls,  &c.  I  repeated  the  entire  history  of 
the  lunatic  from  Bombay  to  Gunzenhausen,  and  my  story 
filled  seven  long  sheets  of  law  paper.  Meantime,  I  felt 
very  weak,  for  I  had  had  nothing  to  eat  since  twelve 
o'clock  on  the  previous  day  ;  and  as  my  feet  had  become 
very  cold,  I  requested  the  permission  of  the  magistrate 
to  put  on  my  slippers.  Before  doing  so,  however,  I 
looked  round  for  the  pin  which  I  had  lost  in  the  feather 
bed,  so  that  I  might  fasten  my  shawl  and  relieve  my 
hands  from  holding  it  together.  But  I  could  not  find 
the  pin,  and  one  of  the  gentlemen,  perceiving  my  em- 
barrassment, looked  at  the  inside  of  his  coat,  where  he 
found  what  I  wanted,  and  handed  me  a  pin,  and  I  nodded 
my  thanks.  In  consequence  of  what  I  said  in  my  deposi- 
tions, a  telegram  was  sent  to  his  Excellency  the  Chief  In- 
spector of  the  Royal  Police  force  at  Munich ;  whereupon 
Dr.  Haug,  Sir  H.  F.  Howard  (the  English  ambassador),  and 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  411 

the  Right  Reverend  Lady  Superior  of  the  convent  of  the 
Angelic  Sisters  at  Nymphenburg  were  requested  to  give 
their  evidence.  Terrible  was  the  consternation  within  the 
sacred  walls  of  the  royal  institution  at  the  news  of  our 
arrest.  The  veil  thrown  so  cautiously  over  the  mysterious 
history  of  a  Protestant  lunatic,  by  the  hurried  dis- 
missal of  the  poor  creature  from  the  convent  at 
Nymphenburg,  was  torn  aside,  and  the  monastic  drama 
was  revealed  before  the  eyes  of  the  authorities  and  of  the 
public.  Fortunately  for  the  nuns  of  the  convents  in 
India  and  at  Nymphenburg,  however,  the  drama  of  an 
unfortunate  Protestant  victim  came  into  the  hands  and 
under  the  discussion  of  a  Roman  Catholic  police  court, 
which  examined  the  Right  Reverend  Lady  Superior  of 
the  royal  institution  with  all  privacy.  Some  days  later, 
I  was  surprised  by  a  letter  of  Professor  Dr.  Haug  inform- 
ing me  of  the  in  vitation  he  had  received  from  the  chief 
police  court  to  appear  as  witness  respecting  Miss  Weppner 
and  Miss  Cosserat,  a  lunatic  under  her  care,  and  that 
there  he  first  learnt  of  my  departure  from  Munich,  and 
my  arrest.  Dr.  H.  produced  the  letter  I  had  written  to 
him  from  Alexandria,  which  was  entirely  in  my  favour, 
and  gave  as  further  evidence,  the  particulars  of  my  call  at 
his  residence  in  Munich  on  the  second  of  July.  On  the 
day  in  question  telegrams  were  sent  out  from  Gunzen- 
hausen  in  all  directions;  the  magistrate  would  not 
believe  I  was  a  German,  and  called  my  birthplace  a  clever 
invention.  He  telegraphed  to  the  Mayor  of  K.  on  the 
Rhine  asking  whether  my  statement  respecting  rny  birth 
and  my  home  was  correct.  This  telegram  caused  the 
greatest  excitement  amongst  the  whole  population  of  K., 


413  THE  NORTH  STAR 

and  every  one  was  asking  what  could  be  at  the  bottom  of 
it.  My  poor  mother  was  frightened  to  death  at  first,  and 
wept  and  prayed  day  and  night.  To  my  intense  regret,  I 
did  not  know  at  the  time  that  the  magistrate  had  tele- 
graphed to  my  home;  otherwise  I  should  at  once  have 
let  my  mother  know  the  meaning  of  it  by  the  same 
means,  and  have  assured  her  that  her  child  had  been 
guilty  of  no  wrong-doing.  But  my  dear  mother  did  not 
doubt  my  innocence  for  a  moment.  "My  child  has  done 
no  wrong,"  she  said,  and  if  she  has  met  with  difficulties, 
it  must  have  been  her  good  nature  that  caused  them." 
The  reply  telegraphed  from  my  home  was  to  the  effect 
that  I  had  spoken  the  truth,  and  at  half -past  one  the 
magistrate  and  his  companions  left  me ;  but,  before  doing 
so,  the  harsh,  pale-faced  judge  held  his  hand  out  to  me 
and  said,  "  Madam,  you  have  indeed  made  a  sacrifice,  a 
great  sacrifice,  and  one  of  which  I  could  not  have  believed 
a  woman  of  your  training  capable.  Your  disinterested  con- 
duct, which  is  now  clearly  proved,  puts  me  to  shame ;  and  I 
beg  your  pardon  for  all  the  untimely  and  insulting  expres- 
sions which  I  permitted  myself  to  apply  to  you  before  the 
investigation.  I  honour  and  admire  you,  and  I  am  truly 
grieved  that  you  have  suffered  so  much  here."  The  magis- 
trate was  still  speaking  when  there  was  a  knock  at  the 
door,  and  in  came  my  only  friend  Dr.  Redenbacher,  who  had 
already  heard  from  the  magistrate's  secretary  that  my  in- 
nocence was  established,  and  had  hurried  to  congratulate 
me  on  my  triumph  and  express  his  delight  at  my  being 
set  at  liberty.  "  Such  honest  eyes,"  he  said  again  to  the 
magistrate,  "could  not  deceive,  and  I  am  glad  that  I 
defended  this  estimable  lady  against  the  rudeness  and 


. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  413 


ridicule  of  our  ill-bred  populace."  I  thanked  the  doctor 
heartily  for  his  chivalrous  sympathy,  and  he  took  his  leave 
with  the  magistrate.  Then  I  flew  upstairs  to  my  poor 
protegee's  room  and  kissed  her.  She  told  me  about  the 
visit  of  three  gentlemen  and  one  lady,  and  said  that  that 
lady  had  asked  her  the  same  question  ten  times,  which 
she  said  she  could  not  understand,  and  she  added,  "  Well, 
I  tell  you,  Miss  Weppner,  they  have  acted  like  fools ;  but 
I  told  them  who  you  were,  and  that  I  thought  more  of 
you  and  loved  you  more  than  any  one  on  earth.  They 
seemed  not  to  understand  me,  and  I  had  to  tell  the  fools 
again  and  again  how  kind  you  were."  I  took  the  poor 
child  down  into  the  garden,  and  on  our  way  she  suddenly 
stood  still  and  said,  "  Miss  Weppner,  have  those  donkeys 
come?  I  should  like  to  have  a  ride."  I  told  her  "  ^No." 
She  now  looked  highly  offended ;  and,  thinking  that  she 
was  still  in  Cairo,  Egypt,  she  rejoined,  u  It  is  most  un- 
pardonable of  the  English  consul  not  to  send  them,  for 
I  wanted  to  see  the  Pyramids  very  much." 

At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  my  poor  servant  was 
let  out  of  prison,  and  he  told  me  with  loud  sobs  about  the 
dirty  dungeon  and  the  stupid  examination  to  which  he  had 
been  subjected.  The  whole  affair  arose  from  the  suspicion 
of  the  magistrate  and  the  police  that  1  was  a  near  relation 
of  the  lunatic,  and  was  endeavouring  to  obtain  her  property 
by  illegal  means,  which  they  said  was  so  often  the  case 
in  England. 

My  indignation  at  the  shameful  arrest  and  subsequent 
ill-treatment  had  not  entirely  subsided  on  the  declaration 
of  my  innocence,  and  I  wept  again  Und  again.  In  the 
evening  the  secretary  of  the  court  came  and  wrote  me  a 


414  THE  NORTH  STAR 

passport,  taking  down  a  description  of  my  person.  I  had 
taken  a  fancy  to  only  one  person  in  Gunzenhausen,  and 
that  was  my  friend  in  need,  Dr.  Redenbacher ;  but  I  had 
little  patience  with  the  rest,  and  no  esteem  for  any  of 
them,  so  that  when  the  secretary  asked  me  if  my  eyes 
were  light  or  dark  blue,  I  looked  him  full  in  the  face, 
and  replied  proudly,  "  Please,  sir,  see  for  yourself  what 
colour  they  are ;  for  this  morning  you  have  expressed 
your  doubts  as  to  the  veracity  of  my  statements." 

The  young  man  turned  pale,  and  he  evidently  felt  so 
ashamed  that  he  could  not  look  up  to  see  what  the  colour 
of  my  eyes  really  was.  I  saw  that  his  hand  trembled, 
and  as  he  left  the  room  he  bowed  most  respectfully,  and, 
with  a  flushed  face,  he  begged  my  pardon  and  wished  me 
a  happy  journey  to  Belgium. 

The  excitement,  the  crowding  together,  and  the  silly 
gossiping  amongst  the  men  and  women  in  front  of  the 
hospital,  did  not  cease  until  the  trio  of  imprisoned  strangers 
were  set  at  liberty  and  declared  innocent. 

On  the  third  day  we  left  the  inhuman  town  where  a 
rough  police  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  had  laid  their 
irreverent  hands  upon  me.  Many  who  had  mocked  at 
me  two  days  before  were  now  anxious  to  be  friendly  and 
speak  to  me,  but  I  showed  such  a  face  to  all  my  unjust 
accusers  that  no  one  ventured  to  address  me  a  second 
time.  My  tickets  for  "Wurzburg  were*no  longer  available. 
I  lost  the  money  I  had  paid  for  them,  but  the  railway 
company  won  it.  The  manager  of  the  hospital  also  gave 
me  an  account  for  my  compulsory  stay  in  his  establish- 
ment, and  all  the  cost  of  this  illegal  arrest  fell  upon  me. 
But,  thank  Heaven,  I  left  the  vulgar  crowds  of  men  and 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  415 

women  in  Gunzenhausen  proudly  and  triumphantly ; 
Dr.  Redenbacher  being  the  only  one  to  whom  I  offered 
my  hand  before  the  train  dashed  away  with  us.  We  soon 
passed  the  spot  where  the  express  train  had  been  wrecked 
a  few  days  before ;  the  engine  and  carriages  were  still 
lying  upside  down  at  the  foot  of  a  slight  elevation  by  the 
line  and  presented  a  sad  and  awfully  suggestive  spectacle. 
The  passengers  spoke  of  the  dead  and  wounded,  saying 
that  many  of  the  latter  were  taken  to  the  hospital  at 
Gunzenhausen,  and  one  I  knew  had  been  carried  into  the 
very  room  into  which  the  surly  magistrate  had  endeavoured 
to  force  me. 

My  pride  had  been  so  deeply  wounded  by  my  humiliating 
experiences  since  I  left  Munich,  that  I  could  not  so  easily 
or  so  quickly  recover  my  composure  as  I  had  done  after 
previous  public  scenes  with  my  ^OOY  protegee.  The  painful 
walk  from  the  railway  station  to  the  hospital  of  Gunzen- 
hausen, and  the  accusations  and  mockery  of  the  whole 
population,  were  constantly  before  me ;  and  how  cruel  a 
humiliation  it  had  been  that  the  magistrate,  police,  and 
people,  had  all  treated  me  as  a  criminal. 

But  do  not  suppose,  reader,  that  this  persecution  of  me 
originated  in  any  feelings  of  humanity  or  pity  for  the 
poor  lunatic.  Our  arrest  was  dictated  by  nothing  less 
than  intense  petty  curiosity.  It  was  the  mad  act  of  an 
excited  people  revelling  in  the  intoxication  of  the  victory 
over  vanquished  France.  No  one  had  the  heart,  the  self- 
control,  or  the  generosity  to  pity  an  unfortunate  foreigner ; 
and  Miss  Cosserat,  the  poor  lunatic,  had  never  been  sc 
badly  treated  as  when  she  was  under  the  care  of  the 
magistrate  and  police  of  Gunzenhausen.  The  food  and 


416  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

lodging  given  to  her  in  the  hospital  would  have  been 
suitable  for  an  animal,  but  not  for  a  poor  enfeebled  human 
creature.  The  arrest  of  three  innocent  travellers  was  a 
f  £te,  a  welcome  episode  to  the  entire  population  of  the 
town  of  G.,  for  at  the  time  no  one  was  at  work,  and  more 
than  half  the  inhabitants  were  tipsy  with  beer;  the 
waiting-room,  the  police,  the  men,  women,  and  children, 
all  alike  reeked  of  beer,  and  the  breath  of  every  one  with 
whom  I  came  in  contact  bore  witness  to  gluttony  and 
surfeit.  Everywhere  there  were  rejoicings  over  the 
bloody  victory ;  everywhere  I  met  brutal,  drunken  officers 
and  soldiers  wildly  singing  of  the  triumph  of  the  Father- 
land and  the  fall  of  France,  cursing  the  French,  swearing 
to  have  more  revenge,  more  blood.  "With  diabolical  joy 
these  drunken  fellows  related  the  disgraceful  crimes  they 
had  committed  on  the  blood-stained  soil  of  humiliated 
France.  Drunken  fathers  and  vulgar  mothers  joined  in  the 
profane  songs  of  their  sons  ;  innocent  children  shared  in 
the  sanguinary  delight  of  their  brothers  who  had  just 
returned  home  from  the  field  of  slaughter.  "  The  next 
time,  the  next  time,"  I  heard  many  drunken  victors  say, 
"  when  we  have  these  cursed  Frenchmen  in  our  clutches ! " 
But  on  what,  I  would  ask,  rests  Germany's  greatness  and 
its  boasted  glory  ?  Does  not  the  crown  of  victory  on  the 
brow  of  its  master  drip  with  blood  ?  meseems  I  see  it  drip- 
ping now.  And  if  it  were  the  costliest  crown,  does  it  en- 
noble its  wearer  ?  If  I  walk  over  a  flowery  path,  and  there 
find  a  wreath  ready  made,  is  it  not  easy  to  adorn  myself 
with  it,  no  matter  who  has  woven  the  wreath  or  who  has 
gathered  the  leaves  and  the  flowers?  But,  sad  to  reflect, 
that  laurels  steeped  in  blood  are  a  never-failing  curse  ; 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  417 

they  are  a  poison  which  never  fails  to  work.  Lilies  and 
roses  beget  lilies  and  roses,  blood  begets  blood.  I  cannot 
believe  in  the  permanency  of  any  greatness  bought  with 
the  price  of  the  innocent,  and  it  is  not  conquest  which 
makes  a  nation  truly  great.  Germany  has  always  held 
an  exalted  position  in  bygone  days;  it  was  great  in 
scholars  and  philosophers,  great  in  science,  art,  and  in 
knowledge  of  God.  Now  unbelief  is  spreading,  and  New 
Germany,  with  its  conquered  soil,  and  with  a  murderous 
army  larger  than  ever,  has  added  nothing  to  its  only  true 
and  lasting  greatness.  What  is  political  unity  without 
virtue,  without  generosity  ?  Many  kings  have  been  greater, 
wiser,  and  more  generous,  and  more  beloved,  than  some 
emperors  ever  were  or  ever  will  be.  What  is  the  honour 
of  a  name  given  in  the  intoxicated  haste  of  a  bloody 
jubilee?  .what  is  the  sacredness  of  baptism,  while  the 
temples  and  the  fields  were  strewn  with  the  corpses  of  the 
slain,  and  while  heaven  and  the  angels  wept  ? 

From  Gunzenhausen  we  went  on  to  Aschaffenburg, 
where  we  had  to  wait  half  an  hour  and  change  carriages. 
The  excitement  at  this  place  was  indescribable,  for  nearly 
all  the  trains  arriving  or  starting  contained  German 
officers  and  soldiers  with  French  prisoners.  The  people 
were  positively  wild,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  population 
assembled  at  the  station.  The  officers  walked  along  the 
carriages  of  the  prisoners  with  an  air  of  arrogance,  and 
some  were  insolent  and  rough ;  the  common  soldiers  were 
not  much  better,  and  the  young  ladies  of  Aschaffenburg 
behaved  for  all  the  world  like  silly,  vulgar  women. 
Everybody  drank  beer  except  the  French  prisoners,  who 
silent  and  sad  looked  out  of  their  carriages,  the  objects  of 
VOL.  n.  27 


418  THE  NORTH  STAR 

the  ridicule  of  many  ill-bred  officers  and  soldiers,  and  of 
the  tipsy  populace.  It  pained  me  to  see  these  poor 
prisoners,  who  seemed  to  have  lost  all  their  national 
liveliness  and  gaiety,  for  they  all  sat,  mute  and  dejected, 
in  their  prison  cars ;  and  it  comforted  me  to  think  that 
they  could  not  understand  the  unfeeling  and  sneering 
epithets  addressed  to  them  in  the  low  Bavarian  dialect. 
Miss  Cosserat  was  obdurately  self-willed  on  this  journey, 
and  I  could  not  get  her  to  go  from  the  carriage  to  the 
waiting-room.  She  remained  on  the  platform,  where  the 
presence  of  several  officials  was  necessary  to  keep  the 
drunken  people  away  from  me  and  my  poor  protegee. 
The  "  fast "  young  women  of  the  town  were  the  most  in- 
solent and  inquisitive  of  our  persecutors,  and  things  went 
so  far  that  the  officials  had  to  drive  them  away  from  the 
poor  lunatic  with  uplifted  sticks.  In  fact,  one  of  our  pro- 
tectors told  me  that  the  young  women  of  Aschaffenburg 
excelled  all  others  for  a  hundred  miles  round  in  vulgarity, 
impudence,  and  coquetry ;  and,  added  my  informant,  the 
noble  young  ladies  of  the  neighbourhood  are  not  more 
refined  than  their  plebeian  sisters.  Some  women,  in 
gaudy  attire,  actually  stood  still  in  front  of  my  charge,  and, 
giggling  away  in  the  most  insolent  manner,  asked  her  to 
come  and  have  some  beer. 

"  Bavaria,"  I  said  to  an  officer  of  the  line,  "  celebrates  the 
German  victory  in  a  very  unworthy  and  slovenly  manner." 
"  Yes,"  rejoined  the  official ;  "  Bavaria  never  drank  so  much 
beer  as  it  does  now,  and  has  done  since  the  beginning  of 
the  war.  Bavaria,"  he  added,  "  is  wild  and  intoxicated 
just  now." 

But  I  witnessed  much  the  same  thing  in  Prussia  as  I 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  419 

did  in  Bavaria,  and  the  populace  I  met  at  the  stations 
were  alike  everywhere  —  arrogant  and  insolent,  and  many 
were  tipsy,  but  of  the  tipsy  kind  the  worse  were  officers 
and  soldiers  returning  home.  At  ten  o'clock  we  reached 
Mayence  and  I  hurried  to  the  telegraph  office  to  send  a 
message  to  my  dear  parents,  telling  them  that  I  should 
pass  my  home  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine  between 

•/ 

twelve  and  one  the  same  night,  and  that  I  hoped  to  embrace 
them  in  a  few  days.  I  wished  them  good  night  and  sent 
a  kiss. 

Miss  C.  was  now  very  faint,  for  she  had  tasted  nothing 
the  whole  day,  so  I  bought  a  bottle  of  the  best  Ru- 
desheimer  wine,  of  which  she  did  me  the  favour  to  drink 
a  glass  and  to  eat  a  cake  with  it.  After  this  invigor- 
ating beverage  she  fell  asleep,  and  did  not  wake  for 
several  hours. 

We  had  now  passed  Bingen,  and  presently  the  train 
passed  the  Loreley,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Rhine. 
I  was  now  but  an  hour's  journey  from  my  home,  and 
it  would  be  impossible  to  describe  to  any  one  what  I  felt 
to  see  my  home  across  the  stream,  and  not  to  be  able  to  see 
those  whom  I  love  there.  My  poor  protegee  and  Johann 
were  both  asleep.  The  moon  shone  clear,  and  lit  up  my 
beautiful  Rhine  with  a  soft  and  tender  glow.  How 
solemn  and  how  sad  I  felt,  as  if  approaching  sacred 
ground !  I  opened  the  window  and  knelt  down.  Now, 
now  I  saw  my  home,  my  sweet,  beloved  home;  I  was 
kneeling  opposite  to  the  house  where  I  was  born,  and  in 
which  my  dear  mother  was  sleeping.  I  heard  the  bell  of 
our  church  striking  out  twelve  o'clock,  and  now  I  was 
opposite  the  cemetery  in  which  rests  my  grandfather.  He 


420  THE  NORTH  STAR 

had  loved  and  fondled  me  as  long  as  he  lived,  and  had 
taught  me  to  pray,  and  often  told  me  I  should  see  him 
again  in  heaven.  Close  to  him  are  sleeping  my  four  dear 
brothers ;  they  were  too  lovely  to  be  with  us,  and  the 
angels  came  and  carried  them  off  to  their  everlasting 
home,  where  we  shall  meet  again.  At  a  bend  of  the  river 
I  looked  back  once  more,  and  my  self-control  failed  me ;  I 
broke  down  and  sobbed  "  Mother,  mother ! "  with  my 
hands  stretched  out  towards  the  Rhine,  my  home,  and  the 
cemetery  which  I  was  leaving  behind.  By  this  time  the 
steaming  horses  had  carried  me  far  away,  and  I  saw  no 
more  of  my  home.  I  went  near  my  slumbering  charge 
and  kissed  her,  weeping.  "  It  is  for  you,  poor  motherless 
child,"  I  said,  "  that  I  have  to  delay  the  joy  of  seeing  my 
own  dear  mother."  Oh,  I  truly  loved  the  forsaken,  help- 
less stranger ;  for  out  of  pity  alone  I  would  not  have  done 
and  endured  what  I  did ;  and  now,  to  quench  the  sadness 
of  my  heart,  I  kissed  her  again  and  again,  and  wept  for  a 
long  time.  I  now  knew  every  town  and  village  that  we 
passed  in  the  light  of  the  moon.  I  knew  the  streams, 
the  mountains,  the  hills,  and  knew  every  bend  of  my  dear 
Rhine.  How  sadly  romantic !  I  was  returning  from  my 
journey  round  the  world  in  the  dead  of  the  night,  and 
must  thus  pass  my  home.  What  a  painful  trial !  But 
Providence  would  have  it  so,  and  pity  and  love  demanded 
that  I  should  nurse  and  protect  a  poor  fellow-creature. 
I  must  have  patience,  and  my  longing  heart  must  bear  to 
wait. 

We  passed  Coblenz  and  Bonn,  and  at  seven  o'clock  in 
the  morning  we  reached  Cologne.  A  chief  characteristic 
of  civilised  countries  is  the  charming  notice,  "  Beware  of 


AND    THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  421 

pickpockets !  "  which  I  saw  placarded  all  about  Cologne  as 
elsewhere  in  Europe,  but  which  I  never  met  with  in 
heathen  lands,  where  such  a  disgraceful  warning  is  un- 
needed.  One  of  the  nuisances  of  Germany  is  the  number 
of  officials  in  bright  buttons  ;  and  when  I  and  my  servant 
were  going  into  a  first-class  waiting-room  at  Cologne  with 
the  poor  lunatic,  a  porter  in  bright  buttons  said  that  Johann 
must  not  go  in.  I  replied  that  I  could  not  spare  my  ser- 
vant, and  that  he  had  a  perfect  right  to  accompany  me,  as 
he  was  travelling  first-class.  At  that  the  surly  fellow  in 
bright  buttons  said  he  had  no  such  right,  and  called  a 
policeman,  to  whom  I  showed  my  servant's  ticket.  The 
policeman,  however,  said  he  was  not  well  enough  dressed 
to  be  admitted  into  a  first-class  waiting-room,  to  which  I 
rejoined  that  he  was  as  cleanly  dressed  as  any  one  of  them. 
An  Englishman  in  the  room,  noticing  my  embarrassment 
at  the  door,  now  came  forward  and  inquired  what  the  men 
wanted.  I  told  him  that  the  porter  and  policeman  refused 
to  allow  my  servant  to  go  in,  and  he  said  in  fluent  Ger- 
man, "  They  are  impudent  fellows ;  one  is  molested  every- 
where by  common  lackeys  in  bright  buttons,  who  take 
pleasure  in  annoying  and  classifying  strangers  according 
to  their  stupid  notions."  The  kind-hearted  Englishman 
then  gave  the  feeble  invalid  his  arm,  and  made  a  sign  to 
my  servant  to  follow  him.  He  took  us  to  a  table,  from 
which  as  usual,  I  removed  the  matches,  and  I  ordered  break- 
fast. Miss  Cosserat  had  taken  nothing  throughout  the 
long  journey  from  Munich  but  one  glass  of  wine  and  a 
cake,  and  she  grew  weaker  and  weaker,  so  much  so  that  I 
was  afraid  she  would  die.  I  begged  her  earnestly  to  eat 
something,  offering  her  everything  I  could  think  of  and 


422  THE  NORTH  STAR 

putting  it  to  her  lips,  but  she  dashed  it  all  away  and  tasted 
nothing  but  sugar.  Her  feeble  condition  rendered  me 
extremely  anxious ;  but  the  Englishman  to  whom  I  ex- 
plained who  the  poor  thing  was,  and  whither  I  was  bound, 
tried  to  encourage  me,  and  with  his  assistance  we  got  her 
into  a  private  coup6. 

Between  Cologne  and  Aix-la-Chapelle,  however,  Miss 
Cosserat  was  taken  very  ill.  She  was  sick,  and  after  her 
sickness  she  lay  looking  like  death.  I  tried  to  open  her 
mouth,  and  I  succeeded  in  getting  her  to  swallow  a  few 
spoonfuls  of  broth  which  I  sent  for  at  a  station.  This 
revived  her  a  little,  and  later  she  took  a  glass  of  port  wine 
with  an  egg  beaten  up  in  it.  Our  coup'e  was  in  such  a 
dreadful  state  that  I  begged  the  guard  to  let  us  have 
another,  which  he  did  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  I  rewarded 
his  kindness  with  a  good  fee.  I  here  remark  with  pleas- 
ure that  as  soon  as  we  were  out  of  Bavaria  I  was  treated 
with  more  politeness  and  consideration. 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  423 


CHAPTER  IX. 

WE  soon  crossed  the  borders  of  Prussia,  entering  Bel 
gium,  and  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  train 
stopped  at  Cortenbergh.  We  carried  the  invalid  to  a 
carriage  and  drove  to  the  convent,  which  was  at  some 
distance  from  the  station.  Even  before  we  got  there  I 
could  hear  the  unnatural  screaming  of  the  poor  lunatics, 
some  of  whom  were  in  the  garden.  And  now  the 
carriage  drew  up  in  front  of  the  building,  the  coachman 
rang  the  bell,  and  when  the  door  was  opened  I  led  my 
poor  protegee  into  the  dreary  place,  which,  to  my  intense 
sorrow,  was  the  only  home  in  a  foreign  land  that  I  had 
found  for  her. 

The  unhappy  lunatic,  as  I  noticed  here,  again  had  a 
most  peculiar  reverence  for  Roman  Catholic  pictures  —  a 
reverence,  however,  which  had  more  of  fear  about  it  than 
devotion.  In  the  parlour  of  the  convent  of  Cortenbergh 
hung  a  picture  of  the  "  Madonna  with  the  Holy  Child,"  at 
the  sight  of  which  Miss  Cosserat  ran  away  in  terror ;  but 
presently  going  back  to  it  in  evident  fear  and  trembling, 
she  said,  "  I  must  worship  this  picture ;  the  wicked  nuns 
in Patna  insist  upon  it;"  and,  kneeling  down  with  out- 


434  THE  NORTH  STAR 

stretched  arms  and  uplifted  hands,  she  began  to  pray.  In 
this  position  she  was  surprised  by  the  Lady  Superior  of 
the  convent,  who  greeted  us  very  coldly,  and  hi  a  thorough 
business-like  way  demanded  the  doctor's  certificate.  She 
made  a  great  many  difficulties  about  receiving  the  lunatic ; 
but  when  I  gave  her  a  sealed  letter  from  Madame  Del- 
phine,  the  Lady  Superior  of  Calcutta,  then  at  Nymphen- 
burg,  which  probably  informed  her  that  Miss  Cosserat's 
father  was  rich,  she  changed  her  tone  and  said,  "  Yes,  I 
will  take  the  poor  child.  Madame  Delphine,  the  Lady 
Superior  from  the  Loretto  convent  of  Calcutta,  has 
already  brought  six  young  ladies  to  our  convent,  and 
knows  us  well.  She  seems  to  be  well  acquainted  with  the 
lunatic's  father,  and  she  assures  me  that  he  can  and  will 
pay,  but  until  I  know  what  he  will  pay  I  must  treat  his 
daughter  as  a  third-class  patient." 

Alas,  how  it  pained  me  when  the  nuns  took  my  poor 
protegee  up  to  the  loft  of  the  convent,  which  served  as  the 
ward  for  third-class  patients,  and  was,  of  course,  the  most 
inferior  in  the  house.  Miss  Cosserat  was  too  weak  to 
make  any  resistance,  but  complained  of  a  fire  in  her  brain 
and  appeared  to  be  suffering  terribly.  She  had  no  idea 
how  far  she  had  come,  and  the  long  journey  from  the 
East  Indies  to  Belgium  was  to  her  but  a  dark  dream. 
When  in  her  dreary  room  in  the  Cortenbergh  convent, 
she  said  to  me,  "  Miss  Weppner,  only  once  on  my  journey 
was  the  world  light  when  there  was  no  night ; "  and  a 
lunatic  entering  the  room  as  she  spoke,  Miss  Cosserat  sat 
down  and  told  her  about  the  fire  on  the  Adriatic  Sea  in 
the  following  words :  — 

"  Once  we  were  on  an  endless  ocean ;  the  world  was 


AND    THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  425 

dark ;  Miss  Weppner  was  lying  in  bed  and  sleeping 
sweetly  and  peacefully.  I  got  up  very  softly  and  lit  a 
fire ;  I  wanted  Miss  Weppner  to  die  and  be  an  angel,  for 
she  had  been  so  lovely  all  along.  The  fire  was  beautiful, 
the  world  was  light,  but  Miss  Weppner  woke  and  screamed 
for  help ;  she  did  not  become  an  angel,  for  the  world  got 
dark  again  and  has  been  dark  ever  since,  and  nobody  lets 
me  light  up  this  dark  world." 

I  told  the  Lady  Superior  of  the  lunatic's  strong  fancy 
for  fire,  and  how  dangerous  matches  were  with  her. 
Meanwhile,  although  I  had  not  yet  been  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  in  the  convent,  the  kind  ecclesiastical  lady  had 
already  thought  of  my  departure,  and  told  me  that  a  train 
for  Cologne  would  soon  arrive  at  Cortenbergh. 

I  replied,  however,  that  I  pitied  and  loved  the  poor 
creature  I  had  brought  with  me  too  much  to  leave  her 
so  quickly,  and  I  begged  her  to  let  me  have  a  room  until 
the  next  morning,  for  which  I  offered  to  pay,  that  I  might 
see  how  my  unhappy  protegee  took  to  her  new  home. 
There  is  no  hotel  in  Cortenbergh,  so  I  had  no  choice  but  to 
remain  in  the  convent.  The  Lady  Superior  acceded  to  my 
request,  and,  although  unwillingly,  gave  me  a  room.  My 
servant  had  been  in  the  garden  all  this  time  helping  the 
gardener,  who  allowed  him  to  share  his  room  for  the  night. 

The  Lady  Superior,  Madame  Gabrielle,  wrote  the  very 
same  evening  to  Mr.  Cosserat  in  India,  and  asked  him 
what  terms  he  proposed  paying  for  his  daughter ;  adding 
that  the  charge  for  first-class  board  and  extras  amounted 
to  about  two  hundred  pounds,  i.  e.,  five  thousand  francs 
per  annum. 

1  3ould  find  out  nothing  about  the  six  young  English 


426  THE  NORTH  STAR 

ladies  who  bad  come  from  the  Koman  Catholic  convent  ii» 
Calcutta  to  Cortenbergh,  for  every  inquiry  I  made  about 
them  was  politely  and  skilfully  turned  aside  by  the  Lady 
Superior.  I  was  so  tired  and  sleepy  that  I  could  not  eat 
anything.  My  hostess  gave  me  a  room  on  the  first  floor ; 
I  went  to  bed  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  slept 
till  six  the  next  morning.  This  was  the  first  quiet  and 
unbroken  sleep  I  had  had  since  my  journey  to  Palestine. 
Miss  Cosserat  had  asked  for  me  in  the  night  and  was  very 
restless,  and  at  half-past  six  a  nun  brought  her  into  my 
room.  The  poor  creature  asked  me  why  I  had  deserted 
her,  and  I  told  her  that  I  was  longing  for  my  mother  and 
must  see  her,  but  that  I  would  come  back  and  give  her  a 
beautiful  present.  At  that  the  unfortunate  invalid  seized 
both  my  hands,  looked  long  and  fixedly  into  my  face, 
sighed  deeply,  and  said,  "  Is  the  world  light  where  your 
mother  lives  ?  "  "  Yes,  darling,"  I  replied  ;  "  it  is  light 
there  in  the  day-time,  but  dark  in  the  night,  as  it  is 
everywhere."  "  Oh,  Miss  Weppner  I"  she  exclaimed,  "  I 
have  been  very  naughty,  but  I  love  you  immensely,  please 
come  back ;  forgive  me,  and  bring  me  a  little  of  the  light 
which  shines  in  the  world  of  your  home." 

She  then  begged  me  to  take  a  letter  with  me  for  her 
sister,  and  asked  for  pen,  ink,  and  paper.  The  following 
was  the  letter : 

"  MY  BELOVED  SISTEK  DELPHT, 

"  Will  you  kindly  send  me  the  clothes  necessary  for 
me?  I  am  very  glad,  and  very  unhappy  to-day.  I  have 
been  naughty ;  Miss  Weppner  is  going,  and  I  cannot 
forgive  myself  for  it.  This  piece  of  poetry  is  for  you : — 


A1TD   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  427 

'  Strong  Son  of  God,  immortal  Love, 
Whom  we  who  have  not  seen  Thy  face 
By  faith  and  faith  alone  embrace, 
Believing  where  we  cannot  prove. 
Thine  are  these  orbs  of  light  and  shade  ; 
Thou  madest  life  in  man  and  brute. 
***** 

Thou  wilt  not  leave  us  in  the  dust. 

***** 
Thou  seemest  human  and  divine, 
The  highest,  holiest  manhood  Thou : 

***** 
Our  wills  are  ours  to  make  them  Thine : 
Our  little  systems  have  their  day  ; 
They  have  their  day  and  cease  to  be, 
They  are  but  broken  lights  of  Thee. 

***** 

We  have  but  faith  :  we  cannot  know, 
For  knowledge  is  of  things  we  see, 
And  yet  we  trust  it  comes  from  Thee 
A  beam  in  darkness :  let  it  grow. 

***** 
That  mind  and  soul  according  well 
May  make  one  music  as  before, 
But  vaster  —  we  are  fools  and  slight, 
We  mock  Thee  when  we  do  not  fear, 
But  help  Thy  foolish  ones  to  bear, 
Help  Thy  vain  worlds  to  bear  Thy  light. 
Forgive  what  seemed  my  sin  in  me  — 
What  seemed  my  worth  since  I  began. 

***** 
Forgive  my  grief  for  one  removed. 
Thy  creature  whom  I  found  so  fair.' " 

Miss  Cosserat  gave  me  the  letter,  and  I  asked  her  to 
write  the  address,  as  I  did  not  know  where  her  sister  lived. 
But  she  said  she  had  forgotten  the  address,  and  I  should 
find  her  somewhere  in  the  dark  world,  perhaps  in  Scar- 
borough. "  You  had  better  take  some  matches  along  with 


428  THE  NORTH  STAR 

you,  Miss  Weppner,"  she  added,  with  a  painful  look ;  "  it 
would  help  you  very  much  to  find  your  way  through." 

When  I  kissed  my  poor  protegee,  and  wished  her  good- 
bye, she  hid  her  eyes,  squeezed  my  hand  convulsively,  and 
would  not  let  me  go.  I  tore  myself  from  her,  and  she 
followed  me,  her  great  blue  eyes  glistening  with  tears 
although  she  could  not  weep.  She  held  out  her  hand  to 
me  again,  and  turning  her  head  aside,  burst  into  an  awful 
laugh,  and  the  nuns  took  her  away  from  me.  I  felt  ex- 
tremely sad  when  I  left  this  poor  orphan  child  —  my  un- 
happy protegee,  whom,  in  spite  of  all  I  had  suffered  for 
her,  I  had  learnt  to  love  so  much.  Long  did  I  hear  her 
wild,  despairing  laugh,  and  it  grieved  my  heart. 

Weeping  bitterly  as  I  passed  through  the  long  passage, 
in  which  nothing  was  to  be  heard  but  the  cries  and  groans 
of  unhappy  young  women,  I  reached  the  door  of  this  truly 
melancholy  institution,  where  I  found  the  coachman  of  the 
convent  and  my  servant  waiting  for  me.  We  drove  to  the 
railway,  and  I  had  tune  to  find  out  from  the  station-master 
what  the  convent  of  Cortenbergh  really  was,  and  whether 
in  fact  it  was  a  medical  establishment  for  insane  young 
ladies. 

"  It  is  not  a  medical  establishment,"  he  replied ;  "  it  is 
an  expensive  convent,  and  the  Lady  Superior  only 
receives  wealthy  lunatics.  There  are  over  one  hundred 
patients  in  the  institution,  nearly  all  young  ladies,  who  are 
under  the  care  and  supervision  of  the  Lady  Superior,  the 
nuns,  and  one  doctor  who  lives  in  the  convent.  I  have 
seen  many  lunatics  taken  here,  but  it  is  rare  indeed  for 
a  patient  to  recover  and  to  be  taken  away.  The  convent 
is  only  open  to  those  who  pay  well,  and  I  dare  say  they 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  429 

must  have  made  a  large  fortune  with  the  lucrative 
business  they  carry  on  in  there." 

"  I  am  afraid,"  I  said,  "  that  I  have  brought  iny  poor 
protegee  to  her  grave ; "  and  I  looked  for  the  last  time  at 
the  dreary  building  in  the  distance.  It  pained  me  to  the 
very  depths  of  my  soul  that  I  had  failed  to  get  help  and 
protection  for  the  unhappy  creature  from  the  English 
ambassador  in  Munich  ;  for  a  much  smaller  sum  than  that 
demanded  by  the  Lady  Superior  of  the  convent  of 
Cortenbergh,  she  could  have  found  refuge  in  one  of  the 
best  medical  establishments  of  Germany.  I  suffered  very 
much  in  parting  from  my  poor  deserted  friend,  and  felt  as 
if  I  were  leaving  a  sister  behind ;  but  I  commended  her 
to  the  protection  of  Heaven,  praying  God  to  give  me  the 
means  and  opportunity  to  rescue  her  from  her  living  tomb 
and  give  her  back  to  society  and  the  delights  of  our 
beautiful  world. 

On  account  of  the  misfortunes  already  related,  the 
money  the  Lady  Superior  of  Nymphenburg  had  given  to 
me  was  not  enough  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  journey,  so 
that  in  Belgium  I  had  to  break  into  my  beloved  Califor- 
nian  treasure,  which  I  had  locked  up  in  China  in  case  of 
need  on  the  advice  of  a  dear  friend,  and  had  kept  intact 
throughout  my  entire  journey. 

And  now,  set  free  from  the  arduous  task  which  I  had 
fulfilled  for  the  poor  creature  I  had  brought  so  far,  my 
long-tried  nerves  gave  way,  and  my  physical  strength 
failed  me.  We  left  Cortenbergh,  and  on  the  journey 
back  to  Cologne  I  became  very  feverish.  My  suffering 
appearance  aroused  the  pity  of  my  fellow-travellers, 
amongst  whom  there  was  a  very  highly  cultivated  German 


430  THE  NORTH  STAB 

gentleman,  a  professor  from  B.,  to  whom  my  good 
Tjrolese  servant  gave  an  account  of  my  difficult  journey 
from  India,  and  the  affair  with  the  police  in  Gunzenhausen, 
Bavaria.  The  courteous  scholar  showed  me  the  warmest 
sympathy,  and  when  we  reached  Cologne  he  took  me  to 
the  Hotel  Ernst,  and  sent  for  a  doctor,  who  was  a  friend 
of  his.  That  gentleman  gave  me  some  medicine  and 
ordered  rest.  I  remained  in  Cologne  two  days,  and 
when  I  left  it  I  was  worse  than  when  I  arrived.  The 
doctor  advised  me  not  to  start  yet,  but  I  told  him  I 
must  go,  for  my  longing  to  see  my  parents  and  sisters 
drove  me  away.  Meanwhile,  the  good  Tyrol ese  had 
seen  the  wonderful  cathedral  of  Cologne,  the  beautiful 
bridges  over  the  Rhine,  and  all  the  sights  of  the  city. 
He  was  quite  happy  again,  and  spoke  a  little  less  bitterly 
of  the  police  and  the  dirty  prison  of  Gunzenhausen.  I 
took  the  faithful  son  of  the  Alps  to  my  home  with  me, 
where  he  also  spent  a  few  pleasant  days,  and  seemed 
thoroughly  to  relish  our  Rhine  wine. 

And  my  delight  when  I  saw  my  father  and  mother 
and  my  sisters,  can  I  describe  it  ?  No.  And  my  good 
mother,  how  happy  she  was !  how  she  kissed  me ! 
and,  presenting  me  with  a  little  gold  chain,  she  wept 
for  joy,  and  thanked  Heaven  for  preserving  me  to  her.  My 
sisters,  too,  and  my  dear  and  only  brother,  now  a  fine 
young  man,  were  full  of  happiness,  and  gave  me  all  kinds 
of  pet  names,  calling  me  a  rare  and  daring  child  and 
sister. 

As  I  had  left  all  my  property,  as  well  as  the  luggage  of 
poor  Miss  C.  behind  me,  and  had  still  to  settle  accounts 
with  the  Lady  Superior  at  Nymphenburg,  and  to  pay  my 


AJfD  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  431 

servant,  it  was  absolutely  necessary  for  me  to  return 
there.  My  strength  was  somewhat  restored,  and  my 
nerves  were  calmed  by  the  pleasure  of  seeing  my  beloved 
relations  again,  and  my  mother  and  sisters  accompanied 
me  as  far  as  Wiesbaden,  where  we  parted,  and  I  left  for 
Munich  with  my  servant  Johann.  The  train  passed  Gun- 
zenhausen,  of  bitter  recollections,  and,  as  we  proceeded 
farther  on,  the  good  effects  of  my  joyful  arrival  home 
wore  off,  and  when  I  reached  Munich  I  was  so  exhausted 
and  ill  that  I  could  neither  stand  nor  walk.  I  know  not 
to  this  day  how  I  got  to  a  hotel,  where  I  was  carried 
upstairs  to  a  room.  Although  the  weather  was  very  hot, 
I  felt  frozen ;  I  shivered,  and  my  hands  and  feet  were  as 
cold  as  ice.  All  my  strength  was  gone,  and  I  wept  with- 
out knowing  why.  A  doctor  came  to  see  me,  and  when 
he  ascertained  my  condition,  he  said  my  nervous  system 
was  shattered,  and  he  gave  me  some  strengthening  medi- 
cine. My  servant  Johann  went  to  the  convent  at  Nym- 
phenburg,  and  gave  the  Lady  Superior  the  account  of  our 
travelling  expenses  on  the  journey  to  and  from  Corten- 
bergh.  To  my  surprise,  the  Lady  Superior  was  good 
enough  to  send  Dr.  Wurm,  the  "royal  doctor"  of  the' 
convent  at  Nymphenburg,  to  see  me.  He  was  an  Ober- 
stdbsarzt  in  the  service  of  the  king,  an  elderly  and  digni- 
fied man  with  silvery  hair,  who  soon  won  my  entire  con- 
fidence, and  to  whom  I  looked  up  as  a  sage,  he  being  so 
venerable  and  of  rare  intelligence  and  refinement.  His 
verdict  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  other  doctor,  and  he 
said,  "  Miss  W.,  your  nerves  are  shattered."  Bankerott 
he  called  it.  "You  require  the  best  nursing,  and  you 
ought  not  to  stay  in  this  hotel.  I  will  take  you  to  Nym- 


432  THE  NORTH  STAR 

phenburg,  the  Lady  Superior  wishes  me  to  do  so.  I  am 
the  doctor  of  the  institution,  which  is  royal,  and  under 
the  protection  of  the  king  and  the  government." 

"  No,  doctor,"  I  replied,  "  I  cannot  go  to  the  convent  at 
Nymphenburg ;  I  met  with  no  truth,  no  sympathy  there. 
I  am  no  friend  of  convents  and  nuns,  and  their  hypocriti- 
cal behaviour  is  quite  adverse  to  my  nature." 

"  Miss  W.,>J  rejoined  the  old  man,  "  I  know  all  that  you 
went  through  on  your  arrival  in  the  convent  and  before 
and  since,  but  you  have  done  more  for  the  institution  at 
Nymphenburg  than  the  Lady  Superior  can  ever  repay. 
She  feels  that  she  is  deeply  indebted  to  you ;  you  are  too 
ill  to  hazard  the  return  journey  to  your  home  now,  and  I 
advise  you,  as  a  doctor  and  as  a  friend,  to  accept  the  Lady 
Superior's  invitation.  I  am  a  grey-haired  man,  and  know 
what  convents  are ;  and  I  must  say,  that  the  history  of  the 
lunatic  for  whom  you  have  done  and  suffered  so  much, 
and  sacrificed  your  health  and  strength,  is  a  mystery  I 
cannot  fathom.  In  any  case,  however,  my  motives  in 
advising  you  to  go  to  the  convent  at  Nymphenburg  are 
honourable ;  you  will  be  under  my  protection  there,  and 
they  will  have  to  treat  you  as  I  wish." 

Meanwhile,  my  nervous  prostration  increased,  and  a 
strange  melancholy  came  over  me,  which  I  could  not 
conquer.  I  wept  day  and  night,  and  when  I  asked  myself 
why,  I  could  not  answer.  It  seemed  to  me  that  seven 
suns  would  not  suffice  to  warm  me.  My  lips  were  blue, 
my  teeth  chattered  with  cold,  and  the  tips  of  my  fingers 
were  always  stiff  and  frozen.  The  image  of  the  unhappy 
lunatic  haunted  me  perpetually;  the  poor  creature  ap- 
peared to  me  in  the  most  awful  visions,  and  often  when  I 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  433 

wanted  to  sleep  terrible  dreams  came  over  me,  in  which 
I  saw  the  despairing,  pleading  figure  of  my  poor  protegee 
approach  my  bedside,  lamenting  about  the  darkness  of  the 
world,  and  asking  me  for  light  and  help.  The  doctor  was 
of  opinion  that  my  mind  and  body  had  alike  suffered  too 
much  from  the  strain  of  the  constant  presence  of  the 
lunatic  during  so  many  weeks,  and  that  this  long-con- 
tinued strain  was  the  cause  of  my  extreme  exhaustion  and 
melancholy. 

After  lying  for  two  days  and  nights  in  the  hotel,  I  was 
taken  to  the  convent  of  Nymphenburg,  for  I  was  too 
weak  and  sad  to  resist  the  good  doctor's  advice  any  longer ; 
and  on  that  day  the  thought  had  flashed  through  my 
mind  that  perhaps  I  should  get  at  the  clue  of  the  mystery 
concerning  my  poor  protegee,  and  I  said  I  would  go.  Dr. 
Wurm  had  done  all  in  his  power  to  secure  comfort  and 
quiet  for  me,  and  all  the  nuns  who  went  in  and  out  of  my 
room  had  orders  to  put  no  questions  to  me  relating  to  the 
lunatic  or  to  the  sad  incidents  of  my  journey. 

My  nervous  prostration  was  worse  by  night  than  by 
day ;  I  had  often  violent  fits  of  trembling,  the  result  of 
that  awful  night  on  the  Adriatic  Sea.  I  spent  many  hours 
in  the  lonely  nights  in  weeping,  not  knowing  any  cause 
for  it ;  and  the  dose  of  morphine  I  took  of  an  evening 
soon  lost  its  effect,  so  that  I  rarely  got  a  good  sleep.  I 
became  the  very  image  of  gloom  and  melancholy,  and  for 
such  mental  dejection  as  mine  there  are  no  drops  or  pills. 
My  good  doctor  came  to  see  me  daily,  and  he  treated  me 
with  the  kindness  of  a  father,  administering  no  medicine 
but  his  own  interesting  conversation  and  cheerfulness. 
He  tried  to  distract  my  mind,  and  to  turn  my  attention 
VOL.  n.  28 


434  THE  NORTH  STAR 

to  the  pleasant  reminiscences  of  my  journey.  He  led 
his  patient  from  her  melancholy  thoughts  to  the  mighty 
cataracts  of  Niagara  in  America,  to  the  fascinating  trop- 
ics and  the  glorious  Himalayas.  He  soon  found  out 
that  I  was  a  most  enthusiastic  lover  of  nature,  and  he  com- 
forted me  with  the  assurance  that  nature  and  my  own 
spirit  would  soon  cure  me.  When  I  shed  tears  before 
him,  he  reminded  me  of  the  courageous  enterprise  I  had 
brought  to  a  successful  termination,  called  me  an  heroic 
daughter  of  Father  Rhine,  and  asked  me  what  I  could  have 
to  weep  about. 

The  Lady  Superior  seldom  came  into  my  room,  but 
when  she  did  she  was  most  friendly.  She  had  given  me 
the  money  to  pay  the  wages  of  the  good  Tyrolese,  and  his 
travelling  expenses  both  to  Belgium  and  back  to  Hatrei, 
with  the  greatest  readiness,  and  I  had  the  very  best  reasons 
for  believing  that  she  was  in  possession  of  the  sum  of 
money  which  Mr.  Cosserat  had  informed  me  by  telegram 
had  been  sent  to  her.  She  also  sent  a  very  amiable  nun 
to  keep  me  company,  whom  I  had  known  in  Frankfort 
when  she  was  in  the  convent  of  the  late  Lady  Superior 
Amalia  von  Engel,  who  had  received  me  so  kindly  after 
I  left  Augsburg,  and  of  whose  death,  as  the  reader  will 
remember,  I  learnt  at  Allahabad  in  India. 

Once  more  I  was  within  the  walls  of  an  institution  of 
the  same  order  as  that  in  which  I  had  been  five  years 
before,  and  a  nun  whom  I  had  known  five  years  before 
in  Frankfort  was  now  my  daily  companion.  She  knew 
Chaplain  M.,  of  the  Cathedral  at  Frankfort,  and  formerly  in 
my  native  town,  who  appeared  as  my  friend  in  the  first 
chapter ;  from  him  she  knew  the  struggles  of  my  early  life, 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  435 

and  the  motives  which  led  me  further  and  further  into  the 
wide  and  distant  world. 

This  nun  was  very  lovable,  and  I  got  at  her  heart,  I  got 
at  her  confidence,  both  of  which  were,  however,  closely 
hidden  beneath  her  veil.  Yes,  I  gained  them,  although  I 
spoke  as  a  woman  who  hated  nothing  more  heartily  than 
convents.  The  nun  took  care  of  my  pigeons  and  my 
parrot,  and  learnt  to  love  the  innocent  little  things,  caressing 
the  pigeon,  and  kissing  its  snow-white  plumage.  I  told 
her  that  it  was  a  good  thing  to  love  something  else  besides 
God,  and  that  the  pigeons  and  parrot  were  His  creatures, 
and  worthy  of  His  love.  I  wanted,  however,  to  teach 
her  something  more  than  that,  so  I  told  her  that  there 
were  nobler  creatures  to  love  and  care  for  in  the  world 
than  pigeons  and  parrots,  and  that  it  was  God's  will 
and  command  that  we  should  love  our  neighbours  next  to 
Him  and  as  ourselves.  I  drove  the  good  nun  into  a  very 
narrow  corner,  and  she  was  obliged  to  own  that  there  are 
no  neighbours  in  a  convent,  as  Christ  understood  them,  and 
that  love  in  convents  was  very  exclusive  and  egotistical, 
not  at  all  the  universal  love  of  humanity,  beneficial  to  the 
world,  such  as  is  required  by  God  and  Christ,  and  by  the 
maxims  and  the  laws  and  the  progress  of  society.  The 
nun  tried  to  confute  me  by  saying  that  she  was  one  of 
the  elect  of  God,  and  that  I  could  have  no  notion  of  the 
"  grace  "  of  being  a  nun.  I  replied  that,  happily  for  me, 
I  had  escaped  any  notion  of  this  peculiar  grace,  which  [ 
thought  came  not  from  God,  as,  to  my  mind,  convents  were 
a  dead  lopped-off  branch  of  that  humanity  which  belongs 
to  Him,  and  which  monks  and  nuns,  quite  contrary  to  Hia 
will  and  intention,  had  dared  to  split  up  to  please  them- 


436  THE  NORTH  STAR 

selves,  and  certainly  not  to  please  their  Maker,  but  to 
defy  Him. 

The  fact  that  I  had  refused  to  take  the  veil,  and  to 
become  a  nun  of  the  "  angelic  sisterhood  "  of  which  my 
opponent  was  a  member,  placed  me  on  perfectly  solid 
ground  to  argue  my  case ;  and  as  I  had  had  so  many 
experiences  in  convents,  and  constantly  remembered  the 
mysterious  fate  of  my  poor  Protestant  protegee,  I  spoke 
mostly  from  conviction  and  with  great  fervour.  My  friend 
said  I  was  eloquent  and  skilful  on  the  point  in  question, 
and  that  every  monk  and  nun  would  lose  their  case  with 
Miss  Weppner.  We  had  many  debates,  after  all  of  which 
my  friend  left  my  room  defeated,  and  I  never  yielded  on 
the  point  of  the  superiority  of  convents  to  human  society, 
in  spite  of  my  friend  being  elected  by  the  grace  of  God, 
and  I,  as  she  liked  to  tell  me  again  and  again,  not  being 
elected.  But  for  all  our  disputes,  and  the  variations  of 
our  opinions,  the  nun  seemed  to  love  me  more  and  more, 
and  she  even  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  she  believed  me 
perfectly  honest  in  all  I  said,  and  that  such  frankness  she 
thought  was  a  rare  and  enviable  quality. 

In  one  of  oar  confidential  talks  I  turned  the  conversa- 
tion to  the  poor  lunatic  Miss  Cosserat,  and  to  my  great 
surprise  the  nun  told  me  that  they  had  known  more  about 
her  in  the  convent  at  Nymphenburg  than  her  approaching 
arrival ;  they  had,  in  fact,  known  a  good  deal  more  of  her, 
and  also  of  her  mania  for  fire,  and  were  aware  that  she 
had  several  times  set  fire  to  her  father's  house  and  the 
convent  at  Patna,  and  more  than  once  with  fearful  conse- 
quences. 

"  How  wicked ! "     I   exclaimed    indignantly,    "  of  the 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  437 

father  and  the  Lady  Superior  at  Patna  and  Allahabad  to 
conceal  such  a  terrible  truth  from  me  !  If  I  had  known 
it,  it  would  have  been  a  sin  against  others  and  myself  to 
bring  the  poor  creature  across  the  sea  without  the  most 
effective  assistance  and  surveillance.  What  unpardonable, 
what  criminal  indifference  these  heartless  people  have 
shown  to  the  safety  of  the  unhappy  maniac  herself,  of 
me,  and  everybody  concerned ! " 

I  wanted  to  learn  the  secret  of  the  sad  history  of  the 
lunatic  from  my  confidential  friend,  but  she  said  she  did 
not  know  it ;  everything  was  a  mystery  to  her ;  she  could 
not  understand  the  father  or  the  Lady  Superior  in 
India,  nor  did  she  know  anything  of  the  mother  of  my 
protegee. 

Professor  Haug,  of  Munich,  sent  a  friendly  and  cheering 
letter  to  me  in  the  convent  at  Nymphenburg,  in  which  he 
told  me  of  his  examination  by  the  State  police,  and  alluded 
in  flattering  terms  to  my  conduct  to  my  poor  charge.  I 
hoped  that  the  investigation  of  the  mysterious  affair 
would  have  been  proceeded  with,  and  that  the  secret  in 
India  would  have  been  found  out,  but  unfortunately  the 
inquiry  in  the  interest  of  the  young  Protestant  lunatic 
did  not  go  further  than  from  Gunzenhausen  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  police  of  Munich.  The  position  and  statements 
of  the  Right  Reverend  Lady  Superior  of  the  royal 
monastic  institution  in  Nymphenburg,  the  position  of  the 
ecclesiastical  adviser  of  the  convent  who  had  bestirred  him- 
self to  influence  the  English  ambassador  in  the  interests 
of  the  institution,  weighed  heavily  in  the  balance.  In 
Roman  Catholic  Bavaria,  high-sounding  spiritual  and 
other  titles  are  still  worshipped  by  the  common  people. 


438  THE  NORTH  STAR 

and  by  the  uncommon  too.  Beyond  what  Dr.  Haug 
told  me  of  the  legal  proceedings  in  Gunzenhausen,  I  heard 
nothing  of  any  further  investigation.  Six  months  later 
I  went  to  the  chief  superintendent  of  the  Royal  Police 
Force  in  Munich,  and  begged  for  an  explanation  respect- 
ing the  examination.  He  remembered  my  name  at  once, 
and  was  very  obliging.  He  alluded  to  the  evidence  of  Dr. 
Haug,  and  spoke  of  the  English  ambassador,  but  wound 
up  by  saying  that  the  documents  relating  to  the 
investigations  were  peacefully  resting  in  the  archives  of 
the  Royal  Police  of  Munich,  and  that  he  would  let  me  see 
them  if  I  wished.  I  told  the  gentleman  that  I  was 
surprised  at  the  task  being  thus  left  unfinished,  that  its 
relinquishment  was  an  injustice  to  the  unfortunate 
heroine  of  the  affair,  and  that  I  had  expected  and  hoped 
that  the  investigation  begun  would  have  been  extended 
to  Blankipore,  Patna,  in  India,  where  alone  the  clue  to  the 
mystery  could  be  found.  "  You  are  right,"  replied  the 
superintendent,  "  but  that  was  not  done."  I  then  asked 
him  if  he  were  an  Ultramontane  or  a  Liberal  Catholic, 
and  he  said  a  Liberal. 

After  I  had  remained  three  weeks  in  the  convent  of 
Nymphenburg,  and  my  nervous  system  had  somewhat 
recovered  its  tone,  Dr.  Wurm  ordered  me  to  drink  the 
mineral  waters  of  Schlangenbad,  near  "Wiesbaden,  and 
not  far  from  my  home. 

All  the  nuns  of  the  Angelic  Sisterhood  with  whom  I 
became  acquainted  were  full  of  praise  of  the  late  King 
Louis  I.  of  Bavaria,  who  had  presented  them  with 
the  spacious  building  at  Nymphenburg,  and  with  all  its 
appendages.  One  of  the  nuns  related  to  me  a  rather 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  439 

amusing  incident.  This  lady,  before  taking  the  veil, 
had  been  introduced  to  his  Majesty  by  her  aunt,  a  lady 
of  rank  at  Munich.  "  You  do  not  know,  Miss  Weppner," 
she  said,  "  how  I  felt  when  I  approached  the  king ;  in 
fact,  quite  a  holy  feeling  came  over  me,  similar  to  that  as 
if  I  was  approaching  one  of  the  saints  in  our  chapel,  and 
becoming  confused,  I  crossed  myself,  at  which  his  Majesty 
laughed  aloud."  "  Stop  a  minute,"  I  interfered  ;  "  if  you 
had  that  feeling  in  approaching  King  Louis  I.  of  Bavaria, 
you,  no  doubt,  do  not  know  how  he  treated  his  poor  queen 
while  Lola  Montez  was  his  mistress."  "  Yes,"  she  said, 
"  I  know  all  about  that ;  but,  you  see,  he  has  been  so  kind 
to  the  Angelic  Sisters ;  he  gave  us  ]STymphenburg." 
"  Perhaps,"  I  added,  "  he  has  been  in  love  with  one  of 
the  Angelic  Sisters,  and  thus  showed  his  affection  for  her ; 
however,  I  think  your  feeling  in  approaching  his  Majesty 
was  more  material  than  it  was  holy."  The  nun  sighed, 
but  was  silent. 

When  I  left  the  convent  the  Lady  Superior  once  more 
begged  my  forgiveness  for  the  unfeeling  reception  on  my 
arrival  with  the  poor  lunatic,  saying  that  the  care  I  had 
received  at  their  hands  was  but  very  little  in  return  for 
what  I  had  done  for  the  unfortunate  girl ;  but,  in  fact, 
she  meant  to  say,  for  what  I  had  done  for  the  institu- 
tion, as  I  found  out  some  time  later.  On  leaving  the 
royal  convent  I  was  given  many  kisses  by  the  Lady  Su- 
perior and  the  nuns,  but  my  hope  that  there  I  should  find 
the  clue  to  the  mystery  of  the  poor  Protestant  stranger, 
and  for  which  during  three  weeks  I  had  been  searching 
most  diligently,  was  totally  frustrated.  I  had  a  letter  from 
the  Lady  Superior  of  Allahabad  to  the  Lady  Superior  of 


440  THE  NORTH  STAB 

the  Angelic  Sisters  at  Augsburg  —  my  former  spiritual 
mistress  —  and  as  I  had  no  reason  not  to  face  the  reverend 
lady  who  had  dismissed  me  with  such  an  awful  warning, 
I  stopped  at  Augsburg  on  my  way  home  in  order  to 
deliver  the  letter  myself.  But  this  time  I  went  to  the 
convent  with  the  lightest  heart ;  and  whom  did  I  meet  at 
the  gate,  acting  as  portress,  and  opening  the  door  for 
me  ?  To  my  surprise,  I  saw  the  young  lady  who  some 
years  ago  had  occupied  the  bed  next  to  me  in  the 
dormitory  of  the  candidates  on  probation.  But  how  did 
I  see  her  again  ?  Her  beautiful  hair  was  all  cut ;  she  was 
wearing  an  enormous  white  bonnet,  and  stooping  in 
unnatural  piety,  and  looking  as  humbly  and  saintly  as 
only  a  nun  can  look.  She  fell  on  my  shoulders,  exclaim- 
ing, "  Miss  "Weppner,  is  that  you  ?  How  proud  and  serene 
you  look !  I  saw  you  coming  through  the  yard  with  such 
a  queenly  air !  "  "  And  I  feel  queenly,  too,"  I  rejoined 
ironically.  At  this  moment,  accident,  or  the  information 
of  my  arrival,  led  the  Lady  Superior  into  the  lodge.  "  Miss 
Weppner,  is  that  you  ? "  she  exclaimed ;  but  she,  how- 
ever, did  not  fall  on  my  shoulders  ;  she  cast  a  significant 
look  at  the  portress,  and  beckoned  her  to  go.  "  Well, 
child,"  she  went  on,  "  how  are  you  ?  how  have  you  fared 
in  this  wicked  world  since  you  left  me  ?  "  "I  have  fared 
exceedingly  well  in  this  wicked  world,"  I  replied,  "  and 
have  just  returned  from  a  trip  all  around  it ;  I  have  the 
pleasure  to  hand  you  a  letter  which  I  brought  myself 
from  the  Lady  Superior  Angela  von  Hoffmann,  of 
Allahabad,  India."  She  took  the  letter  in  a  manner  as 
if  she  had  long  expected  it,  and  said,  "  and  you  look  so 
bright  and  happy,  how  can  it  be  ?  what  must  3-011  have 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  441 

experienced  in  that  wicked  world,  of  which  I  have 
warned  you  in  so  motherly  a  way ;  men  are  so  very  bad  ; 
but  you  went!"  she  sighed.  "Which  I  cannot  regret,"  I 
replied.  "  The  world  is  not  so  wicked  after  all ;  I  have 
met  many  excellent  people,  and  some  very  good  men  in  it, 
and  feel  perfectly  happy  and  satisfied  with  what  I  did." 
The  conversation  lasted  a  long  time,  the  Lady  Superior 
uplifting  her  hands  and  covering  her  eyes,  and  sighing 
many  times  at  what  I  had  to  say  of  the  "  wicked  world 
without"  as  she  persisted  in  calling  it.  And  when  I  rose 
to  go  she  said  in  a  most  pitiful  tone,  "  So  you  have  still 
no  vocation  for  a  spiritual  life  ?"  "  None  whatever  yet,"  I 
answered  proudly  ;  "  but,"  I  added,  with  an  ironical  smile, 
"I  will  no  more  consent  to  an  'earnest  final  probation,' 
for  I  have  a  strong  aversion  to  fasting  and  swooning 
away."  The  Lady  Superior  reminded  me  not  to  talk  so 
wickedly,  and  at  our  parting  she  gave  me  a  small  flask  of 
the  miraculous  "  Walburga  oil,"  of  which  I  have  told  the 
reader  something  in  my  first  chapter.  I  did  not  like  to 
offend  her,  and  accepted  it,  thinking  I  would  keep  it. as  a 
Roman  Catholic  curiosity,  with  a  scapular  which  had 
been  given  to  me  at  Nymphenburg ;  but  at  the  time  I 
found  it  hard  to  control  my  tongue.  I  had  occasion  to 
show  the  flask  to  a  gentleman  who  has  a  sister  in  the 
convent  of  the  Angelic  Sisters  at  Eichstadt,  where,  as  is 
already  reported  in  this  narrative,  St.  Walburga  exudes 
this  wonderful  oil.  The  gentleman,  on  seeing  the  tiny 
phial,  laughed  outright,  exclaiming,  "I  know  all  about 
that  humbug ;  the  most  daring  humbug,"  he  added,  "  ever 
invented  and  carried  out.  That  flask  contains  nothing 
but  some  drops  of  water  from  the  convent  well,  or  any 


442  THE  NORTH  STAR 

other  well,  and  St.  Walburga  knows  nothing  whatever 
about  her  '  miraculous  oil,'  and  never  did  exude  any;  but 
I  could  wish  to  have  as  much  money  as  the  nuns  have  made 
by  this  fraudulent  business."  When  I  had  left  the  convent 
of  the  Angelic  Sisters  at  Augsburg  behind  me,  I  knew 
that  I  would  never  again  step  into  any  building  belonging 
to  that  order ;  and  of  convents  in  general  I  have  but 
little  more  to  say.  There  are  but  few  of  which  I  have 
retained  a  pleasant  recollection.  I  do  not  believe  that 
nature  and  corruption,  and  deceit  and  falsehood,  are  shut 
out  of  those  sacred  institutions  called  convents,  but  that, 
on  the  contrary,  they  are  well  shut  in  there.  The  vices  of 
the  cloisters  are  no  less  pernicious  than  the  vices  of  the 
world.  I  do  not  doubt  to-day  that  the  old  satirists, 
Rossetti,  Boccaccio,  and  Rabelais,  spoke  pretty  truly  of 
the  saintly  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  subjected  them- 
selves or  subjected  others  to  the  process  of  crushing  out 
nature ;  and  1  hold  that  truly  honest  people  may  well 
dispense  with  cloisters,  and  that  any  one  of  us  might 
lead  a  God-pleasing  life  in  the  open  world,  and  reach 
heaven  without  a  monastic  vow. 

My  nervous  prostration  brought  on  an  alarming 
weakness,  and  I  suffered  again  from  hoarseness,  similar  to 
that  I  felt  in  hot  India,  and  a  doctor  at  Wiesbaden  now 
ordered  the  mineral  waters  at  Weilbach,  instead  of  those 
at  Schlangenbad.  The  mineral  waters,  however,  did  not 
do  me  much  good,  but  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  my 
dear  mother  several  times.  My  doctor  now  ordered  me 
to  a  bathing-place  on  the  coast  of  the  North  Sea.  I  went 
to  Norderney,  beyond  Bremen,  and  the  pure  bracing  sea 
air  and  strengthening  sea-bathing  completed  my  restora- 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  448 

tion  to  health,  so  that  when  I  returned  home  my  old  spirits 
and  my  old  strength  of  nerve  were  restored. 

My  numerous  cases  and  boxes  of  curiosities,  which  I 
had  sent  from  Calcutta  to  Bremerhafen  in  Germany,  had 
arrived  long  before  myself.  The  line  between  Bremen 
and  Frankfort  belongs  to  the  State ;  and  as  it  was  my 
intention  to  exhibit  my  treasures  in  the  last-named  city 
for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  wounded,  and  the  widows  and 
orphans  of  the  late  war,  I  wrote  to  his  Excellency 
Count  von  Itzenplitz,  Minister  of  Commerce,  telling  him 
of  the  aim  of  my  proposed  exhibition,  and  begging  him  to 
let  my  curiosities  be  sent  to  Frankfort  free  of  the  ordi- 
nary charges  for  freight.  His  Excellency  gave  me  a 
favourable  reply,  and  granted  the  free  pass  for  which  I 
had  petitioned.  At  the  same  time  I  had  written  to  the 
Minister  of  Finance,  Herr  von  Camphausen,  asking  him  to 
remit  payment  of  duty,  on  the  ground  of  the  use  to  which 
my  property  was  to  be  put.  But  his  Excellency  the 
Minister  of  Finance  was  not  so  generous  as  his  colleague, 
and  demanded  greater  liberality  from  me  than  he  was 
prepared  to  show  to  me,  for  he  would  only  let  me  off 
paying  duty  on  condition  that  I  gave  up  every  article 
in  my  possession,  from  first  to  last,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
poor  creatures  wounded  in  the  late  war  or  their  widows. 
There  must  have  been,  as  I  could  gather  from  a  reply  of 
his  Excellency,  a  misunderstanding  of  the  contents  of  my 
letter  to  him.  I  was  informed  from  the  office  in  Berlin 
that  I  had  volunteered  to  part  with  every  article  for  the 
purpose  mentioned,  should  his  Excellency  let  me  off 
paying  duty,  which,  however,  was  in  contradiction  with 
the  terms  of  my  letter. 


444  THE  NORTH  STAR 

To  the  condition  in  question  I  could  not  consent.  For 
no  price  in  the  world  would  I  part  from  the  many  beauti- 
ful souvenirs  of  my  journey  round  the  world,  which  I  had 
brought  home  with  so  much  difficulty  from  distant  lands, 
and  to  every  one  of  which  was  attached  some  pleasant  re- 
collection. I  do  not  believe  either,  if  his  Excellency  von 
Camphausen,  Minister  of  Finance,  had  travelled  round  the 
world,  and  come  home  with  as  many  boxes  and  cases  of 
curiosities  as  I  had,  that  he  would  have  been  prepared  to 
give  up  all  his  treasures,  as  he  expected  me  to  do,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  sufferers  from  the  late  war,  in  return  for 
being  let  off  paying  the  duty  on  them. 

I  took  no  notice  of  the  condition ;  but  in  Frankfort-on- 
the-Maine  I  paid  the  Prussian  Government  the  full  duty 
for  all  my  curiosities,  and  they  remained  my  own  property. 
I  then  addressed  myself  to  some  of  the  most  influential 
gentlemen  of  the  same  city ;  and  two  rooms  in  a  good  and 
suitable  locality  were  assigned  to  me  for  my  exhibition. 

I  had  a  great  many  more  curiosities  than  I  thought ;  I 
had  collected  them  in  all  parts  of  the  East,  and  only  in 
my  home  did  I  realise  the  full  extent  of  my  treasures. 
Twenty-five  long  tables  in  two  large  rooms  glittered  with 
the  greatest  variety  of  the  natural  and  artificial  products  of 
Japan,  China,  Java,  India,  and  Arabia.  It  gave  me  a 
great  deal  of  trouble  to  arrange  everything  with  taste ; 
but  a  kind  merchant  of  Frankfort  sent  two  of  his  clerks 
to  assist  me,  and  when  it  was  all  done,  and  my  exhibition 
opened  for  the  public,  I  felt  as  proud  as  a  queen  in  my* 
little  kingdom.  I  fixed  the  price  for  admission  into  my 
domain  unalterably,  and  my  "  Oriental  Exhibition  "  had 
its  desired  result.  The  greatest  curiosity  in  it,  however, 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  445 

was  myself,  for  nobody  would  believe  that  I  had  tra- 
velled round  the  world  alone,  and  had  myself  brought 
every  article  on  view  from  the  distant  East.  The  greater 
number  of  visitors  to  my  collection  belonged  to  the 
learned  classes,  the  professors  and  doctors  of  Frankfort 
and  the  neighbourhood.  I  had  a  good  many  specimens 
which  were  not  in  the  Ethnographical  Museum  of 
Frankfort,  and  as  I  had  more  than  one  specimen  of  many 
articles,  I  made  little  presents  of  the  duplicates  to  that 
institution.  Frankfort  is  justly  celebrated  for  its 
liberality,  and  is  no  doubt  the  most  generous  city  in 
Germany,  as  was  proved  in  many  cases  of  calamities  at 
home  and  abroad.  Most  of  the  visitors  to  my  museum  were 
very  liberal,  few  of  them  taking  any  change  from  me. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  town,  ladies  and  gentlemen  alike, 
treated  me  with  the  greatest  respect  and  kindness,  and 
the  press  spoke  highly  of  the  aim  of  my  exhibition.  The 
first  to  profit  by  it  were  some  poor  soldiers  of  Bavaria,  for 
it  was  in  their  country  that  the  people  had  treated  me 
most  roughly  and  inhumanly  when  I  had  passed  through 
with  Miss  C.,  the  poor  lunatic  stranger,  and  I  wished  to 
repay  their  unfeeling  treatment  with  kindness. 

In  my  little  kingdom  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  many 
true  and  false  beggars ;  letters  poured  in  upon  me  from 
every  side,  my  applicants  giving  me  the  most  exalted 
titles,  calling  me  "  noble  lady,"  "  gracious  lady,"  &c.  I 
was  astonished  at  the  wretched  orthography  of  many  of 
the  soldiers  who  wrote  to  me,  all  of  whom  had  been  in  the 
Government  elementary  schools  for  eight  years,  without 
learning  how  to  write  a  decent  letter,  or,  if  they  had, 
they  had  forgotten  it  since.  The  general  education  of 


446  THE  NORTH  STAR 

the  lower  classes  of  Germany  is  still  very  inferior ;  but 
when  one  considers  how  badly  the  teachers  are  paid,  the 
result  is  not  much  to  be  wondered  at.  If  the  State  scarcely 
allows  a  teacher  bread,  there  is  every  excuse  for  his 
indifference  to  the  incompetency  of  his  pupils.  It  would 
be  a  very  good  thing  if  the  money  squandered  by  an  idle 
army  could  be  turned  to  account  in  the  education  and 
elevation  of  the  people,  male  and  female.  The  mere 
mechanical  acquirements  of  reading  and  writing  in 
elementary  schools  cannot  be  called  education ;  what 
Germany  is  greatly  in  want  of  are  Foribildungs-Schulen 
in  every  community,  and  free  institutions. 

My  exhibition  gave  me  infinite  delight,  and  placed  me 
in  the  happy  position  of  being  able  to  do  good  to  others. 
This  was  my  mode  of  showing  my  gratitude  to  my  friends 
abroad  who  had  aided  and  protected  me  in  my  journey 
round  the  world.  I  wished  to  repay  to  the  unhappy 
what  the  more  fortunate  had  given  to  me,  and  I  fully 
accomplished  alike  the  aim  of  my  exhibition  and  the  wish 
of  my  heart.  There  might  be  a  sufficient  number  of 
street  organs  in  the  Western  world  (in  the  East  I  saw 
none) ;  but  I  bought  such  an  instrument  for  a  poor  man 
who  had  lost  his  right  arm  and  one  of  his  eyes,  which 
excited  my  sympathy.  He  said  that  with  an  organ  he 
could  earn  his  bread,  and  that  every  day  he  would  play 
a  song  of  gratitude  to  me,  which  I  suppose  he  is  now 
doing  in  the  streets  of  Frankfort.  Organ-grinders 
are  generally  honest  people,  and,  as  I  found  out  in 
all  large  cities,  keep  away  from  the  police  and  police 
courts;  in  lonely  streets  they  cheer  the  people  when 
playing  popular  airs,  so  I  trust  that  my  favourite  will 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  447 

play  nothing  else,  and  will  always  have  an  honest  piece 
of  bread  to  eat. 

Many  of  the  ladies  of  Frankfort  invited  me  into  their 
families,  and  I  retain  a  pleasant  recollection  of  some  very 
excellent  friends  I  made  in  them.  What  surprised  me 
most  in  this  annexed  city  of  Prussia  was  the  intense  hatred 
against  the  Prussians.  Many,  many  years  will  be  required 
before  the  proud  city  of  Frankfort  changes  its  haughty 
and  noble  old  heart  for  a  new  one.  Proud  Frankfort  still 
sighs,  its  heart  still  throbs  for  the  good  old  times  gone  by ; 
it  sighs  and  weeps  at  the  remembrance  of  the  lost  freedom, 
the  lost  rights  of  its  once  free  citizens ;  it  has  not  yet 
learnt  to  beat  for  the  Prussians.  And  as  it  is  in  Frankfort, 
so  it  is  to-day  in  many  another  annexed  town  or  village 
of  the  but  partly  regenerated  Fatherland.  The  unity  of 
Germany  is  still  more  of  an  ideal,  of  a  dream,  than  of  a 
reality. 

My  museum  gave  my  mother  and  brother  and  sisters  a 
great  deal  of  pleasure,  and  after  it  was  closed  I  went  back 
with  them  to  our  home,  and  celebrated  the  Christmas  of 
1871  amongst  my  own  dear  relatives.  Remembering  how 
I  had  set  out  from  Paris  (France)  when  rescued  by  noble 
hearts  from  poverty  and  despair,  and  how  I  had  paved  my 
way  through  the  wide,  wide  world,  I  felt  immensely  grati- 
fied at  the  reflection  of  all  I  had  accomplished ;  and  that 
I  had  returned  home  enabled  to  do  some  good  myself,  was 
the  sweetest  pleasure  I  ever  felt.  I  thanked  God  from 
the  fulness  of  my  joyful  heart,  and  my  Christmas  was  a 
happy  one. 

I  had  sent  my  collection  of  curiosities  to  Munich,  and 
I  wished  to  do  there  as  I  had  done  in  Frankfort ;  but 


448  THE  NORTH  STAR 

different  circumstances  frustrated  my  intention,  and  it  was, 
moreover,  high  time  to  begin  writing  the  account  of  my 
journey.  Through  Professor  Haug  I  was  introduced  to 
some  celebrated  scholars  in  Munich,  and  his  kind-hearted 
and  intelligent  wife  became  one  of  my  intimate  friends. 
The  professor  was  devoted  heart  and  soul  to  the  beautiful 
Sanskrit  language,  which  has  brought  him  so  great  renown, 
and  which,  as  he  often  said  to  me,  contains  the  most  beau- 
tiful and  exalted  thoughts  and  expressions  of  which  the 
human  soul  is  capable. 

Of  the  chief  city  of  Bavaria  I  have  only  one  further 
remark  to  make,  namely,  that  I  saw  many  women  in  it 
who  are  still  slaves.  How  often  was  my  indignation 
aroused  by  the  degraded  position  and  employment  of  the 
female  sex  in  Munich  and  other  towns  and  villages  of 
Bavaria !  How  often  was  I  grieved  at  the  roughness  of 
men  towards  women  !  I  had  been  amongst  the  Japanese, 
Chinese,  Javanese,  Hindus,  and  the  uncivilised  Arabs,  but 
nowhere  did  I  see  women  worked  so  hard,  never  did  I  see 
them  so  ill-used  as  in  Germany.  In  the  chief  city  of 
Bavaria  I  saw  poor  women  on  the  scaffolding  of  newly 
erected  houses,  working  like  bricklayers,  and  even  harder, 
for  some  of  them  carried  the  stones  for  building  on  their 
heads  or  shoulders  up  the  lofty  scaffolding.  In  the  streets 
of  Munich  I  saw  poor  women  dragging  heavy  carts  along, 
sawing  through  thick  trunks  of  trees,  and  chopping  wood. 
Everywhere  in  Germany  the  unhappy  women  perform 
the  services  assigned  in  other  countries  to  beasts  of 
burden. 

Royal  princes,  counts,  barons,  and  lazy  officers  and  sol- 
diers pass  these  poor  women,  and  not  only  do  high  and  low 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  CR088.  449 

tolerate  their  servile  condition,  but  not  a  few  are  unfeel- 
ing and  insolent  enough  to  ridicule  them  and  look  upon 
them  as  no  higher  than  animals.  The  enlightened  as 
well  as  the  ignorant  classes  are  so  used  to  seeing  women 
perform  the  labours  of  beasts  of  burden,  that  between  the 
two  they  can  see  no  difference.  The  difference,  however, 
these  Christians  could  be  taught  by  the  heathens.  One 
day  I  read  an  article  in  one  of  the  papers  of  Munich  of  so 
uncivilised  a  nature  that  it  would  not  have  been  allowed  to 
be  printed  in  England  or  America,  and,  as  I  think,  would 
never  be  inserted  in  the  Pekin  Gazette  in  heathen  China. 
On  a  road  near  Munich  there  was  a  poor  woman,  a  daily 
labourer,  in  the  service  of  the  Government,  employed  in 
breaking  stones.  The  poor  creature  was  soon  to  become 
a  mother,  and  was  no  longer  equal  to  doing  her  work 
well.  In  the  article  referred  to  above,  a  man  ridiculed 
the  poor  woman  in  reference  to  her  "  bodily  appearance," 
and  spoke  of  her  incapacity  to  do  her  work,  and  that  in 
language  I  could  not  quote  here.  Such,  however,  is  the 
position  of  women,  that  when  I  expressed  my  indignation 
against  the  barbarous  article,  I  was  told  by  several  that 
the  infamous  composition  was  read  with  wild  delight  and 
loud  laughter  in  the  beer-houses ;  and  on  passing  a 
principal  street  I  heard  it  openly  discussed  by  some  dis- 
solute-looking officers,  idly  dragging  and  rattling  along 
with  their  disgraceful  swords.  And  all  this  happened  in 
the  capital  of  Christian  Bavaria,  without  any  attempt  by 
the  press  to  defend  the  victim  of  all  this  derision,  whose 
state  was  so  worthy  of  commiseration.  Oh,  civilisation  ! 
oh,  Christianity  !  where  are  ye  ?  Did  I  see,  did  I  hear  this 
abuse,  this  degradation  of  my  sex,  amongst  the  heathens  ! 
VOL.  n.  29 


450  THE  NORTH  STAR 

Can  a  country  where  a  woman  bearing  a  child  is 
publicly  treated  in  such  a  manner,  is  publicly  derided, 
without  a  condemnatory  protest  against  the  infamous 
print,  be  called  a  truly  civilised  country?  Civilised,  I 
will  admit,  by  name,  but  not  civilised  in  practice.  Is 
the  emperor  or  king  who  tolerates  without  protest  such 
a  servile  position  for  the  women  in  his  country  —  allowing 
them  to  break  stones,  and  to  draw  carts  over  his  imperial 
or  royal  roads  —  a  kind  or  truly  Christian  monarch  ?  They 
would  do  well  to  go  to  Republican  America,  in  order  to 
learn  to  employ  the  poorer  class  of  women  in  a  humane 
manner,  and  to  distinguish  their  oppressed  female  subjects 
from  the  beasts  of  burden.  The  sights  I  met  in  Germany 
on  my  return  from  distant  lands  were  revolting  to  my  feel- 
ings, for  I  now  saw  and  observed  what  formerly  I  could 
not  see  or  observe.  Every  third  man  in  the  large  towns 
of  Germany  is  a  soldier  or  officer  of  the  great  lazy  army  ; 
and  when  decent,  honest  people  are  hard  at  work  at  the 
plough  and  pen  and  press,  these  idlers,  after  some  hours' 
stupid  drill,  which  in  itself  disgraces  our  boasted  civilisa- 
tion, run  like  masquerading  fools,  trained  for  the  one 
sole  purpose,  to  the  various  cafes  and  restaurants,  eating 
and  drinking,  puffing  away  their  cigars,  and  relating 
mutual  accounts  of  their  unmoral,  useless  barrack  life.  I 
have  observed  that  in  countries  where  there  is  no  syste- 
matic "  three  years'  drilling  "  (as,  for  instance,  in  America), 
men  in  general  have  a  nobler  and  more  dignified  carriage 
than  our  lazy,  stiff-necked  officers  and  soldiers,  whose 
carriage  bears  the  imprint  of  an  idle  brain  and  a  worth- 
less life.  It  is  a  cruel  feature  and  a  significant  contra- 
diction of  our  so-called  progressive  age,  that  the  poor 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  451 

have  to  support  an  army,  the  chief  members  of  which  are 
high-born  idlers,  squandering  away  the  money  of  the 
industrious  classes,  on  whom  they  look  with  contempt, 
but  who  are  yet  silly  enough  to  be  their  bread-winners 
and  to  feed  them. 

No  class  of  human  society  has  a  more  pernicious  in- 
fluence upon  the  morals  of  the  masses  than  the  military, 
for  it  is  a  useless  class.  It  is  their  unworthy,  their  lazy 
mode  of  life  which  drives  officers  and  soldiers  to  immoral- 
ity and  vice.  And  yet  it  is  this  class  which  in  Germany 
is  the  most  respected ;  and  since  the  late  war  the  officers 
have  become  more  arrogant  than  ever.  Before  the  war, 
it  was  a  common  saying  that  with  a  "baron"  begins 
the  "  man  "  in  Germany  ;  but  after  the  war  I  heard  many 
clear-sighted  people  complain  that  now  the  "  man  "  began 
with  an  "  officer."  And  yet  I  saw  military  men,  wearing 
the  epaulettes  and  the  insignia  of  the  highest  distinc- 
tions, treat  and  insult  married  women  in  a  manner  which 
any  street  loafer  in  New  York  would  be  ashamed  of,  and 
which,  in  fact,  I  have  never  once  witnessed  in  America. 
Of  the  thousands  of  young  soldiers  of  the  rural  districts 
who  leave  their  homes  unscathed  and  in  prosperous 
health,  but  few  return  from  their  three  years'  service  un- 
injured in  constitution  and  in  moral  tone.  The  barracks 
are  so  many  "  universities  "  for  vice  and  idleness,  so  many 
hells  for  an  ever-ruined,  cursed  life.  In  my  journeys, 
especially  in  America,  that  land  of  refuge,  I  met  many 
high-born  but  broken-down  officers  and  deserters,  who 
cursed  their  military  service  in  the  Fatherland  as  the 
ruin  of  their  whole  lives.  But,  unfortunately,  the  idle 
officer  or  soldier  does  not  ruin  himself  alone.  The  three 


452  THE  NORTH  STAR 

years  of  laziness  and  immorality  in  the  lives  of  thousands 
of  soldiers,  and  the  life-long  course  of  dissipation  of  many 
of  the  officers  remaining  in  service,  demand  their  victims, 
and  these  victims  are  the  many  ruined  women  and 
girls  in  the  barrack  towns  and  their  neighbourhood. 
The  number  of  illegitimate  children  in  such  places  is 
positively  revolting,  most  of  whom  are  the  hated,  repu- 
diated offspring  of  some  ruined  officer  or  soldier  and  an 
equally  ruined  mother.  Generally,  these  unwished-for 
and  consequently  despised  children  are  brutally  and  mis- 
erably brought  up  by  the  lowest  of  the  low,  and  the  poor 
innocent  little  creatures,  who  merit  the  pity  and  indul- 
gence of  the  world,  are  all  their  lives  the  victims  of  the 
unjust  scorn  of  society. 

Directly  after  the  daily  hours  of  drill,  all  the  caf6s, 
restaurants,  and  wine  and  beer-shops  of  barrack  towns 
are  filled  with  idle  officers  and  soldiers.  Here  we  see 
them  morning,  noon,  and  at  all  times  of  the  day.  The 
prosperity  of  the  industrious  classes  of  Germany  is 
destroyed,  swallowed  up,  so  to  speak,  by  the  idle  military 
classes.  Thousands  of  well-born  officers  do  nothing  in 
the  course  of  their  whole  lives  but  tyrannize  for  an  hour 
a  day  over  the  poor  recruits.  Their  only  active  time  is 
the  disastrous  time  of  war  and  bloodshed,  and  what  they 
do  in  the  barracks  in  the  intervals  of  war  and  peace  does 
but  promote  despotism  and  hinder  the  progress  of  human 
society.  And  I  cannot  here  refrain  from  expressing  my 
fullest  sympathy  with  the  good  and  honest  youth  of  my 
country,  whom,  against  their  will  and  inclination,  the  law 
of  despotic  rulers  compels  to  submit  to  this  degraded  life. 
No  doubt,  in  the  army  of  400,000  able-bodied  men,  there 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  45& 

are  a  goodly  number  who  deserve  a  better  lot  than  to  be 
taught  how  to  hold  then-  shoulders  and  how  to  turn  right 
and  left.  There  are  thousands  and  thousands  of  aristocratic 
lazy  idlers  among  them  who  have  the  right  —  a  right 
equal  to  that  of  a  slaveholder —to  use  plebeian  soldiers  as 
their  servants,  who  have  to  clean  their  pipes,  boots, 
uniforms,  to  polish  their  buttons  and  swords,  buy  their 
cigars  and  tobacco,  carry  their  boots  to  then-  shoemakers' 
and  their  billets-doux  to  their  sweethearts,  and  who  not 
rarely  are  treated  by  their  brutish  masters  as  dogs,  and 
are  thrashed  and  kicked,  and  called  the  names  not  of 
servants  or  slaves,  but  of  beasts.  And  these  officers, 
unworthy  to  live  and  breathe  the  pure  air  of  heaven, 
together  with  these  stupid  soldiers  their  slaves,  all  are 
paid  and  fed  by  the  poor,  hard-working  German  people, 
languishing  beneath  the  yoke,  and  sighing  in  the  dust  of 
the  despot  and  the  military  aristocracy.  Oh,  thou  over- 
clouded spirit  of  the  age,  arise  and  shine !  reveal  thyself ; 
show  the  people,  show  the  slaves  then-  rights;  teach 
them  that  they  are  the  fellow-creatures  of  their  despotic 
masters,  and  of  the  lazy  military  aristocracy  whom  they 
are  compelled  to  support!  Oh,  Germany,  would  to 
Heaven  that  thy  people  would  awake  and  be  liberated 
and  free,  and  that  thou  wouldst  no  more  drench  thy 
laurels  in  thine  own  and  thy  neighbours'  blood !  The 
above  is  one  "  shadow-picture "  of  my  dear  native  land, 
and  the  second  I  propose  painting  is  no  less  gloomy,  no 
less  revolting. 

The  first  is  alike  the  bane,  the  curse,  and  the  result  of 
despotic  rights,  of  tolerated  tyranny  and  oppression ;  the 
second  is  nothing  less. 


454  THE  NORTH  STAR 

I  must  now  take  my  reader  to  the  beautiful  mountain 
districts  of  the  Bavarian  and  Tyrolese  Alps,  where  I  went 
in  the  early  spring  of  1872  to  work  quietly  at  this  narra- 
tive in  the  charming  society  of  budding  nature,  and  there 
will  I  paint  my  picture. 

Oh,  Heaven,  if  there  be  a  land  of  heathens  in  the  world, 
here  is  that  land !  Here  is  the  home  of  phantom  fetish 
divinities!  Here  is  a  dark  valley  of  irreligion  and  of 
superstition!  Here,  my  reader,  the  human  intellect  is 
fettered ;  and  here  are  the  slaves  of  another  master,  those 
of  the  ruler  in  Rome.  Nowhere  do  we  find  the  sole  and 
only  worship  of  one  true  God,  one  true  Christ,  but  every- 
where the  adoration  of  saints  and  of  the  infallible  Pope, 
and  everywhere  the  fanatical  priests,  his  agents,  are  the 
ruling  powers.  Every  village  has  a  legion  of  saints,  and 
only  now  and  then  and  just  perchance  the  true  God  is 
allowed  to  appear ;  but  every  parish  has  a  li viiig,  a  visible 
god !  And  this  god  is  the  priest ;  he,  the  priest  alone, 
is  believed  in,  and  he  alone  is  beloved  and  feared,  but  not 
the  true,  the  invisible  God.  HE  is  but  known,  but  seen 
in  a  mist,  hidden  by  other  gods  and  saints ;  and  as  He 
is  never  distinctly  recognised  b'eyond  that  dark  deceiving 
veil  of  priesthood,  of  idolatry  and  superstition,  so  He  is 
never  well  considered  and  appreciated,  and  never  truly 
beloved  as  the  only  and  highest  God,  and  therefore  is 
never  feared.  It  was  in  the  spring,  as  previously  noted, 
that  I  had  an  opportunity  of  studying  this  people,  and 
one  day  a  storm  broke  over  the  bare  trees  and  budding 
meadows.  Suddenly  the  bells  of  the  village  and  those  of 
the  neighbouring  hamlets  began  to  ring.  "  What's  that 
for  ?  "  I  inquired ;  "  why  are  the  bells  rung  ? "  "  To  drive 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  455 

away  the  storm,"  replied  an  old  woman ;  "  the  bells  are 
consecrated  bells,  and  can  drive  away  the  storm  from  us." 
"  But,"  I  said,  "  that  is  not  Christian-like ;  the  bells 
might  drive  the  storm  to  the  next  village  and  do  your 
neighbours  harm."  "  In  the  next  village,"  replied  the 
stupid,  superstitious  woman,  "  they  will  chase  the  storm 
farther  away  again  with  ringing  the  bells." 

For  all  that,  however,  the  storm,  accompanied  by 
terrible  thunder  and  lightning,  came  down  in  torrents, 
doing  considerable  damage.  But,  nevertheless,  they 
rang  the  bells  the  next  time  a  storm  threatened,  and  on 
all  subsequent  occasions  of  a  similar  kind.  The  number 
of  patrons  and  saints  in  the  Catholic  towns  and  villages 
of  the  Alps  is  enormous.  A  woman  had  a  sick  cow, 
and,  if  I  remember  the  name  rightly,  she  prayed  to  a 
St.  Leonard,  but  he  did  not  hear  her  petition  and  the  cow 
died.  She  had  another  doctor  in  heaven  for  her  goat, 
but  I  can't  remember  the  name  of  that  saint.  This  same 
woman  had  the  habit  of  constantly  telling  lies,  and 
informed  me  herself  that  she  told  more  than  fifty  in  a 
week,  but  added,  "  I  go  to  confess  «very  Saturday."  All 
the  inhabitants  of  this  Catholic  place  believed  in  the 
divine  power  of  the  priests,  and  in  the  influence  and 
interference  of  witches.  There  are  a  great  many  witches, 
and  the  priest  is  appealed  to  for  help  against  them.  I 
heard  of  a  bewitched  cow,  which  gave  no  milk,  and  the 
witch  was  pointed  out  to  me  who  had  exerted  her  unholy 
influence  over  the  animal.  The  moral  tone  of  this 
Catholic  village  is  such  as  I  never  found  amongst  the 
heathens  of  the  East.  All  the  inhabitants  attend  mass 
daily,  and  offer  tapers.  I  saw  them  all  before  the  images 


45R  THE  NORTH  STAR 

of  the  saints  in  the  churches  and  by  the  wayside,  and  I 
found  that  all  believed  in  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope. 
Moreover,  the  largest  number  of  the  villagers  are  at 
daggers  drawn  with  each  other,  and  there  is  no  end  to 
squabbles  and  arbitrations  and  lawsuits.  One  woman  has 
bewitched  the  cow  of  another,  and  so  forth ;  but  most  of 
the  disputes,  and  fights,  and  legal  proceedings,  arise  from 
excessive  drink,  and  from  the  mutual  hate  and  dislike 
between  the  neighbours,  calling  each  other  bad  names. 
The  public-houses  are  never  empty ;  Sunday  is  not  the 
Lord's  day,  but  a  crime-day r,  a  day  of  disgrace  and  fighting 
or  bloodshed.  Licentious  love  is  the  rule,  a  legal  marriage 
the  exception  ;  marriage  frequently  takes  place  only  after 
the  event  of  three,  four,  or  even  more  baptisms.  There  are 
many  families,  each  unmarried  son  and  daughter  of  which 
has  children,  and  the  whole  race,  from  grandfather  to 
grandson,  are  the  illegitimate  offspring  of  society.  No 
wedding,  no  baptism,  no  funeral  even,  without  drunken- 
ness and  brawling.  Beer  barrels  are  tapped  before  day- 
break, and  many  peasants  drink  five,  six,  and  more  glasses 
before  they  begin  their  day's  work.  Men,  women,  and 
children  assemble  in  the  beer-houses  quite  early  in  the 
morning,  and  spend  their  substance  in  drink,  swallowing 
the  value  of  house,  fields,  farm,  health,  intellect,  reeling 
through  life  in  a  state  of  intoxication — reeling  drunken  to 
the  grave.  Many  of  the  priests,  as  the  adored  gods  of 
the  community,  spend  Sundays  in  the  beer-houses  of 
the  village,  surrounded  by  their  faithful  followers,  and 
drink  until  they  are  little  better  than  besotted  animals. 
Gambling,  cursing,  and  false  oaths  are,  as  it  seems,  a  mat- 
ter of  course  with  this  bigoted,  ignorant  people,  and  are  of 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  457 

daily  occurrence.  Sanguinary  brutality  and  obdurate 
stupidity  go  hand  in  hand  with  superstitious  Catholicism 
and  with  the  blindness  of  their  minds.  The  education 
of  the  adults  consists  principally  in  reading  their  prayer- 
books,  and  does  not  extend  far  enough  to  enable  them  to 
write  intelligibly.  If  a  letter  has  to  be  written,  the  young 
folks  yet  going  to  school  are  applied  to,  or  the  school- 
masters themselves.  But  few,  except  the  priest,  school- 
master, and  perhaps  the  mayor  of  the  place,  understand  a 
well-written  newspaper  written  in  spirited  High  German, 
and  but  little  is  known  of  the  world  beyond  the  valley 
and  the  neighbouring  mountains.  Geographical  know- 
ledge seldom  extends  farther.  A  man  of  about  thirty  years 
of  age  inquired  of  me,  quite  innocently,  whether  it  was 
more  than  one  hundred  miles  from  Munich  to  India,  and  this 
man  had  eight  years  of  compulsory  elementary  training ! 
The  absence  and  want  of  Fortbildungs-Schulen,  of  even- 
ing classes,  of  instructive  papers  and  popular  lectures,  as 
existing  among  all  classes  in  America,  brings  the  young 
people,  after  leaving  an  elementary  school,  to  a  standstill, 
in  which,  surrounded  by  the  dark  spirit  of  superstition, 
fostered  by  an  almighty  fanatical  priesthood,  they  soon 
forget  the  little  they  knew.  But  woe  to  him  who, 
in  these  Ultramontane  and  bigoted  valleys  of  Bavaria 
and  Tyrol,  ventures  to  question  the  divine  supersti- 
tions of  the  people,  or  the  power  of  the  priests,  and 
the  infallibility  of  the  mighty  and  despotic  god  in  Rome. 
The  man  of  intellect  had  better  hold  his  peace  here,  or, 
if  he  must  speak,  let  him  flee  away  as  soon  as  the 
words  are  said,  so  that  the  vengeance  of  the  bigoted 
people  may  not  overtake  him.  If  a  heathen  from  the  East 


458  THE  NORTH  STAR 

were  sent  into  one  of  these  gloomy  valleys  of  the  fanatical 
Roman  Catholic  world,  where  the  human  intellect  is 
crushed  beneath  the  yoke  of  religious  despotism,  where 
so  little  is  done  by  the  rulers  of  our  great  nation  on  behalf 
of  the  freedom  and  education  of  the  common  people,  who 
are  the  slaves  on  the  one  hand  of  an  ecclesiastical,  on 
the  other  of  a  secular  despotism ;  if,  I  say,  we  let  this 
heathen  study  Roman  Catholic  fanaticism,  and  the  super- 
stition and  idolatry  of  the  ignorant  masses  in  towns  and 
villages,  and  then  let  him  write  a  book  giving  the  results 
of  his  inquiry,  he  would  tell  us  that  he  found  no  one 
true  God,  no  Redeemer,  in  that  valley,  but  only  a  phantom 
image  of  the  Deity,  a  pell-mell  of  divinities ;  only  ignorant 
bigoted  slaves,  not  yet  knowing  themselves,  not  knowing 
what  they  really  are  about  here  below,  but  staggering 
along  through  this  bright  beautiful  world  in  the  most 
deplorable  darkness.  And  our  heathen  friend  would  tell 
us  that  in  this  valley  he  found  no  such  creatures  as  might 
be  called  true  Christians  or  "  free-born  men,"  no  truly 
civilised,  truly  christianised  people  of  distinctly  defined 
and  honest  convictions. 

I  had  returned  from  the  pagan  lands,  and  I  was  desirous 
to  know  a  little  more  of  our  own  people,  in  order  to  draw 
comparisons ;  and  I  hold  that  there  is  no  better  place  to 
study  Roman  Catholicism  than  among  the  primitive  and 
extremely  narrow-minded  people  of  the  Bavarian  and 
Tyrolese  Alps.  But  from  what  I  learned  of  some  of 
the  Roman  Catholics  of  London  and  New  York,  I  hold 
that  their  vicinity  is  equally  convenient  for  that  study. 
Spain,  from  what  I  read,  and  France,  from  what  1  know 
of,  may  be  just  as  good,  and,  in  fact,  any  place  where  we 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  459 

see  that  deceptive  chair,  the  confessional  —  that  tribunal 
where  so  much  is  confessed  and  forgiven,  and  from  which 
the  world  has  never  derived  any  permanent  good.  We 
may  study  the  blindness  of  Roman  Catholicism  in  all 
places  where  we  see  people  with  their  rosaries,  and 
telling  then*  beads,  and  believing  in  consecrated  medals, 
crosses,  scapulars,  indulgences,  and  where  we  see  them 
kneeling  before  images,  and  kissing  the  relics  of  saints 
whose  canonisation  has  been  proclaimed  in  Rome,  but  of 
which  we  have  not  yet  seen  the  signature  and  seal  of  the 
omniscient  God,  the  only  infallible  Judge  in  heaven. 
Oh  that  more  were  done  for  our  home  missions,  and 
that  some  courageous  and  charitable  missionaries  would 
set  out  —  not  to  the  East  —  but  to  the  West ;  that  they 
would  go  forth  into  the  dark  regions  of  our  own  lands  and 
there  destroy  the  idols  on  the  roadsides,  and  preach  to 
the  blind  inhabitants  the  first  of  the  Ten  Commandments 
brought  down  from  Mount  Sinai  by  Moses  long  before 
our  era,  and  tell  them  that  there  is  but  one  God  and 
Redeemer,  and  that  the  lately  invented  dogma  of  the  In- 
fallibility is  a  fraud  on  human  reason,  a  fraud  on 
mankind.  I  believe  in  the  chief  rulers  of  nations,  secu- 
lar and  spiritual,  for  they  are  to  the  different  branches  of 
human  society  what  father  and  mother  are  to  a  family ; 
and  I  admire  and  respect  the  chief  of  any  government  or 
creed  that  rules  the  people  with  love  and  justice  and 
wisdom,  and  according  to  reason  and  the  will  of  God ;  and 
I  have  a  great  veneration  for  old  age,  and  a  particular 
respect  for  any  kind  and  justly  beloved  ruler  or  chief 
whose  hair  has  whitened  while  holding  the  staff  of 
government — the  staff  of  God — who  will  demand  it  back 


460  THE  NORTH  STAR 

when  receiving  the  accounts  of  His  servant  whom  he 
entrusted  with  that  staff.  But  I  never  can  or  will  con- 
ceive how  a  shepherd  of  a  large  flock,  how  a  mortal  ruler 
— an  old  man  with  whitened  hair,  standing  on  the  brink  of 
death,  daily  and  hourly  expecting  the  call  of  his  Creator 
and  Judge,  could  thus,  in  the  face  of  all  humanity,  in  the 
face  of  heaven  and  eternity,  declare  himself  the  rival,  the 
equal  of  his  God,  and  by  that  declaration  —  by  that  fatal 
dogma — disturb  the  peace  of  all  Christian  nations  on  earth, 
and  create  that  disastrous  revolution  of  opinions  which  in 
my  journey  I  have  witnessed  in  every  part  of  the  Eastern 
and  Western  hemispheres,  belonging  to  Christendom. 
Nothing  could  have  been  more  injurious  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  world,  and  especially  to  the  ignorant  part  of  it,  than 
this  last  dogma.  In  the  bigoted  valley  where  I  am  writing 
this,  some  fearless  priests  declared  themselves  against  it, 
and  they  were  hated  and  cursed  by  the  enraged  and  fana- 
tical people  of  the  district.  The  dogma  but  added  to  the 
blindness  of  the  masses,  who,  without  any  more  injurious 
material  from  Rome,  would  have  fuel  sufficient  to  feed  and 
sustain  their  ignorant  minds,  as  the  aristocracy  of  the  land 
is  never  wanting  to  keep  up  that  supply.  It  is  indeed  pain- 
ful to  witness  the  servile  submission  of  the  lower  classes  to 
the  titled  and  high-born ;  they  seem  not  to  have  the  least 
conception  of  their  own  worth,  and  with  a  stupidity  bor- 
dering on  idiocy  they  blindly  and  unconsciously  keep 
apart  the  chasm  that  divides  them  from  their  fellow- 
creatures,  the  upper  classes.  And  the  latter,  not  content 
with  accepting  this  fanatical,  this  foolish  worship,  do  all  in 
their  power  to  encourage  and  foster  the  servility  and 
ignorance  of  the  inferior  masses,  and,  like  the  heathen 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  461 

daimios  and  mandarins  and  rajahs  of  the  East,  they  play 
the  infamous  and  heaven-offending  rdle  of  divinities  in 
the  face  of  their  blinded  fellow-men.  Often  in  the  capital 
of  Bavaria  and  in  the  valleys  of  the  Alps  have  I  seen  the 
slavish  crawling  of  ignorant  people  before  a  priest  or  a 
man  or  woman  of  rank  and  title.  They  approached  them 
in  the  same  abject  and  servile  manner  as  I  saw  the  lowest 
natives  in  the  East  crawl  before  the  worshipped  fools  of  a 
higher  caste.  And  in  drawing  comparisons  I  fail  to  see 
any  difference  between  the  ignorant  and  the  lowest  classes 
of  the  despotic  countries  of  the  East  and  those  of  the 
West,  and  I  likewise  fail  to  see  any  marked  difference 
between  the  Buddhist  heathen  of  any  Eastern  land  and  a 
Roman  Catholic  or  any  other  heathen  in  the  West.  The 
difference,  if  there  is  any,  consists  but  in  the  name  and 
in  our  fancy,  for  the  very  word  heathen  is  quite  shocking 
to  the  ear  of  many  a  good  and  bad  Christian.  There  are 
many  who  believe  in  Christ,  but  whom  Christ  does  not 
believe  to  be  His  followers.  The  mere  belief  in  the  Re- 
demption cannot  secure  our  salvation.  If  a  Buddhist 
heathen  would  follow  the  commandments  of  his  religion 
as  set  down  in  their  original  formulas,  and  which  are  so 
admirably  beautiful  and  quite  like  our  own  in  their 
principal  points,  he  would  no  doubt  please  God  and 
Christ,  for  do  not  the  Buddhist  teachers  say  that  God  is 
the  creed  of  those  who  love  Him  ?  and,  if  we  please  our 
divine  Father,  can  we  offend  or  displease  His  divine  Son  ? 
And  if  a  Roman  Catholic  heathen  would  follow  the  com- 
mandments of  God  and  the  teachings  of  Christ,  and  abandon 
the  worship  of  idols,  in  which  he  is  as  good  an  expert  as  a 
Buddhist  heathen,  he  too,  I  do  not  doubt,  would  please  hia 


462  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

God,  and  Christ  his  Redeemer.  In  the  Roman  Catholic 
valley  of  the  Alps  where  I  draw  rny  picture  I  am  utterly 
unable  to  discern  the  image  of  the  moral  and  spiritual 
ideal  of  Christ ;  and  if  to-day  our  Redeemer  should  appear 
in  one  of  these  valleys,  He  would  not  in  this  mist 
of  superstition,  and  among  the  legions  of  saints  and 
divinities  of  the  people,  find  one  faithful  servant  of 
His  Father,  not  one  true  follower  of  Himself,  and  no  one, 
I  fear,  would  know  Him  to  be  the  founder  of  their  religion. 
The  pure  God  ideal,  as  well  as  the  pure  Christ  ideal,  are 
hidden  beneath  a  closely  woven  veil,  and  are  superseded 
by  the  clouded  ideal  of  saints  and  Romish  priests,  for, 
as  I  have  personally  observed,  the  belief  in  the  divine 
power  of  saints  and  priests  has  with  many  people  sup- 
pressed, has  completely  crushed  (so  to  say)  the  belief  in 
the  power  of  God  and  Christ.  When  a  man  or  woman  or 
child  is  sick,  or  when  a  cow  or  a  goat  is  sick,  they  do 
not  pray  to  God  or  Christ,  they  pray  to  the  saints,  and 
they  pay  the  priests  for  saying  masses  as  a  means  of  help 
and  cure,  and  they  go  with  sundry  wearing-apparel  to 
touch  the  relics  of  saints  and  apply  them  to  the  suffering 
people  or  cattle ;  and,  moreover,  these  are  made  to  eat  and 
to  drink  food  and  fluid  stuff  consecrated  by  the  priest. 
While  I  was  among  these  superstitious  people,  a  lawsuit 
was  brought  against  the  rector  of  a  village,  who  for  many 
years  had  sold  consecrated  oil  for  the  use  and  pretended 
cure  of  cattle  attacked  by  disease ;  and  the  details  of  the 
infamous  traffic  he  had  carried  on  among  the  ignorant 
were  almost  incredulous,  but  they  proved  to  be  true.  I 
doubt  whether  any  Buddhist  priest  in  the  East  could 
equal  this  Roman  Catholic  priest  in  the  way  of  practising 


A2H)  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  463 

fraud  and  deceit  among  his  flock  ;  and  it  must  be  added, 
that  the  rector  has  been,  as  is  usually  the  case  with, 
clergymen  in  Germany,  eight  years  at  a  theological 
university  in  civilised  Europe,  to  prepare  himself  for  his 
consecration  and  his  fraudulent  career  of  crushing  the 
intellect  and  trafficking  with  the  diseased  bodies  and  souls 
of  the  ignorant.  Observing  the  extreme  fanaticism  and 
the  superstition  of  those  around  me,  my  mind  was  led 
back  to  the  time  of  the  Inquisition,  and  I  thought  that  if 
to-day  John  Huss  or  Savonarola  escaped  burning  in  this 
valley,  it  would  be  either  because  the  peasants  were  too 
stupid  to  find  them  out,  or  too  stingy  to  furnish  the  faggots. 
Nothing,  I  venture  to  say,  could  be  more  unfortunate  for 
those  who  wish  to  exalt  Roman  Catholicism  over  heathen- 
ism, than  to  rest  their  arguments  on  the  distinction  of 
"  religions  by  their  fruits."  There  might  be,  I  fear, 
other  Christian  creeds  that  would  compare  equally 
unfavourably  with  heathenism ;  but  as  a  Catholic,  brought 
up  in  a  most  fanatical  place,  where  I  have  seen  my  own 
co-religionists  cross  themselves  when  meeting  Protestants, 
I  am,  by  the  help  of  my  own  experiences  and  convictions, 
more  able  to  draw  comparisons  between  Roman  Catholicism 
and  heathenism  than  between  Protestantism  and  heathen- 
ism. And  I  add  with  pleasure,  that  in  all  my  experiences 
among  the  followers  of  my  immortalised  countryman 
Martin  Luther,  I  have  noticed  to  my  joy  and  edification 
that  their  belief  in  one  true  God  and  in  our  Redeemer 
Christ  is  free  from  all  superstition.  It  is  therefore  easy 
to  conceive  why  among  Protestant  people  we  generally 
find  higher  education  than  among  those  Roman  Catho- 
lics who  have  not  yet  freed  themselves  from  the  errors  of 


464  THE  NORTH  STAR 

their  faith ;  for  superstition  and  idolatry  mean  the  dark- 
ness of  the  mind  and  the  enchainment  of  the  intellect. 
To  my  mind  it  is  impossible  to  ascend  into  a  higher 
sphere  of  thought  and  conception,  and  to  see  the  ideal  of 
God  and  Christ  in  all  its  loving  purity,  as  long  as  our 
view  is  impeded  by  the  many  phantoms  of  divinities,  and 
our  souls  burthened  by  the  belief  in  the  multitudes  of 
heavenly  and  earthly  powers  as  taught  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  Often  again  since  I  have  returned  from 
the  East  I  reflect  on  the  beauties  of  some  of  the  Oriental 
religions,  in  which  I  was  instructed  by  eminent  scholars, 
and  the  original  ideal  of  all  of  which  is  the  only  true  God. 
The  Chinese  Buddhist  priest,  when  a  faithful  disciple  of 
his  teacher  Buddha,  prays  in  the  morning  that  the  music 
of  the  bell  which  wakens  him  to  his  matins  may  sound 
through  the  whole  world,  and  that  every  living  soul  may 
gain  release  and  find  eternal  peace  in  God ;  and  though 
we  may  wonder  at  those  millions  of  Chinese  who 
bow  at  the  shrines  of  Confucius  and  offer  abundance  of 
fruits  and  flowers  in  the  temples  of  their  spirit  ancestors, 
yet  we  are  told  that  the  common  standpoint  of  the  three 
Chinese  religions,  Confucius,  Buddhist,  and  Tauist,  is 
that  they  insist  on  the  banishment  of  evil  desire,  which 
certainly  is  a  principal  recommendation  in  any  religion. 
As  I  have  myself  observed  at  the  French  Cathedral  in 
Pekin,  the  Chinese  heathens  wonder  at  the  performances 
and  formalities  of  the  Roman  Catholic  service  quite  as  much 
as  I  have  wondered  at  the  peculiarity  of  the  Buddhist  ser- 
vice, of  which  our  Western  scholars,  who  are  continually 
delving  into  the  mysteries  of  the  Oriental  religions,  have 
not  yet  learned  to  analyse  the  subjects  and  the  objects 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  465 

clearly  and  satisfactorily.  "  The  depths  of  antiquity,"  says 
the  old  Buddhist  poet,  "  are  full  of  light."  And  they  even 
seem  to  be  more  full  of  light  in  the  East  than  they  are  in 
the  West,  for  there  we  have  to  face  civilisation  far  older 
than  our  own,  and  consequently  more  light  has  there  been 
evolved  from  the  depths  of  antiquity  in  the  course  of  a 
much  longer  period  than  has  been  the  case  with  us.  And 
there  we  come  into  contact  with  races  whose  religious 
beliefs  seem  to  be  even  more  firmly  rooted  in  supernatural 
claims  than  ours,  and  some  of  which  are  exceedingly 
beautiful  and  extremely  fascinating  to  any  one  believing 
in  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  How  charming,  though 
sad,  but  fully  convincing  of  the  belief  in  a  supreme 
Being,  in  the  omniscient  God,  are  the  words  of  Sakuntala 
to  the  husband  who  deserted  her,  and  refused  to  recognise 
her  again  :  "  Thou  who  knowest  what  is  true,  and  what 
is  false,  O  king  !  Scorning  the  child  of  our  love,  bringest 
shame  on  thyself  !  Thinking  I  am  alone,  thou  hast  for- 
gotten that  beholder  from  of  yore,  who  is  in  the  heart ! 
Acting  wickedly,  thou  imaginest  no  one  knows  it  is  I. 
But  the  gods  know  and  the  witness  within  thee  :  sun  and 
moon,  day  and  night,  and  the  justice  of  God,  behold  the 
deeds  of  men.  The  spirit  that  dwells  within  us  judges 
us  in  the  hereafter."  In  the  dramas  women  speak  in  the 
Prakrit  dialect,  but  men  use  the  Sanskrit  or  holy  speech, 
to  which  beautiful  language  I  once  had  the  pleasure  to 
listen  at  Bombay  during  the  opera  of  "  Sakuntala." 

In  summing  up  with  my  own  sex  I  must  repeat  that, 

of  all  the  women  I  have  seen  on  my  journey,  I  hold  that, 

judged  from  a  moral  point  of  view,  the  Japanese  women 

stand  lowest  of  all.     The  poor  Chinese  women  are  still 

VOL.  n.  30 


466  THE  NORTH  STAR 

slaves,  but  I  hope  and  trust  that  our  good  missionaries, 
with  the  kind  help  of  their  wives,  will  do  much  to  better 
their  condition.  They  are  kind  and  industrious  and  ex- 
tremely modest;  I  have  learned  to  esteem  them  very 
much,  and  they  have  my  best  wishes  for  their  release 
from  the  bonds  of  slavery,  their  better  training  and  their 
future  welfare.  One  thing  I  should  like  my  Western 
sisters  to  adopt  from  our  good  Eastern  sisters,  viz.,  their 
simple  and  beautiful  mode  of  dressing  their  hair.  Our 
great  Reformer  Luther  has  said  that  a  luxurious  chevelure 
was  the  f airest  ornament  of  woman,  and  why  do  we  cover 
our  heads  with  such  hideous  pads  and  with  mountains  of 
false  hair  ? 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CR088.  467 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  Hindoo  women,  as  I  learnt  in  India,  do  not  rank 
quite  so  low  as  I  was  taught  to  believe  before  I  came 
among  them;  and  in  their  domestic  life,  as  concerning 
their  duties  and  enjoyments,  they  stand  on  a  level  with 
their  Western  sisters.  We  have  to  see  people  in  their  own 
homes,  and  then  get  information  of  reliable  men,  studying 
their  customs  and  their  history,  in  order  to  know  some- 
thing definite  about  them.  Malabar  has  seven  ancient 
sages,  of  whom  four  are  women  ;  and  in  the  schools  of 
India,  the  moral  sentences  of  Avyar  (a  woman  sage  of 
Malabar)  are  taught  as  the  golden  rules  of  life,  and  of 
which  I  will  here  quote  some :  "  Honour  thy  father  and 
mother.  Forget  not  the  favours  thou  hast  received. 
Learn  while  thou  art  young.  Seek  the  society  of  the 
good.  Speak  ill  of  none.  Ridicule  not  bodily  infirmities. 
Pursue  not  a  vanquished  foe.  Deceive  not  even  thy  enemy. 
Forgiveness  is  sweeter  than  revenge.  The  sweetest 
bread  is  that  earned  by  labour.  Knowledge  is  riches. 


468  THE  NORTH  STAR 

What  one  learns  in  one's  youth  is  as  lasting  as  if  engraven 
on  stone.  The  wise  is  he  who  knows  himself.  Speak 
kindly  to  the  poor.  Discord  and  gambling  lead  to  misery. 
He  misconceives  his  interest  who  violates  his  promise. 
There  is  no  tranquil  sleep  without  a  good  conscience, 
nor  any  virtue  without  religion.  To  honour  thy  mother 
is  the  acceptable  worship.  Of  women  the  fairest  ornament 
is  modesty."  From  some  of  my  friends  in  the  East  I  heard 
much  to  the  praise  of  the  heathens  as  regards  the  disin- 
terestedness of  their  motives  and  the  noble  purpose  of 
their  actions ;  and  it  must  be  said  that,  generally  speak- 
ing, they  are  free  from  that  insatiable  greed  for  needless 
riches  which  of  late  has  hastened  the  material  civilisation 
of  their  Western  brethren,  but  which  has  also  increased 
the  abandonment  of  faith  and  the  spread  of  unbelief. 
Many  heathens,  in  fact,  are  puzzled  to  know  what  the 
Christians,  who  force  themselves  amongst  them  for  their 
own  selfish  ends,  really  mean  to  teach  them.  Poor  crea- 
tures, they  completely  fail  to  understand  those  Christians, 
and  for  years  and  years  the  wondering  heathen  is  sighing 
for  examples  which  he  cannot  get ;  but  here  it  may  not  be 
unfair  to  say  that  of  some  of  the  Oriental  nations,  we 
Christians,  who  pretend  to  be  their  superiors  and  wish  to 
be  then*  teachers,  could  learn  many  lessons  in  moral  sim- 
plicity and  integrity.  We  know  as  yet  too  little  of  the 
chief  nations  of  the  East  and  of  the  true  nature  of  their 
creeds  and  customs,  but  in  twenty  or  thirty  years  hence 
our  Western  scholars  will  probably  know  something  more 
about  them,  and  will  tell  us  what  India  and  China  are  and 
have  been.  As  regards  the  Japanese  people,  I  for  my  part 
know  quite  sufficient  of  them,  and  I  decidedly  wish  to 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  469 

know  nothing  more  of  the  boys  and  girls  and  the  ladies 
and  gentlemen  of  that  sunny  land. 

But  I  am  sorry  to  confess  that  nowhere  in  the  whole 
world  did  I  see  women  occupy  such  a  degraded  position 
as  I  have  observed  in  nearly  every  district  in  Germany, 
and  especially  in  the  Roman  Catholic  valleys  in  Bavaria 
and  Tyrol,  where  the  beasts  of  burden  and  the  women  of 
the  lower  classes  stand  on  almost  equal  terms.  No  Japanese, 
no  Chinese  or  Hindoo  woman  works  at  the  plough  or  does 
the  service  of  a  beast  of  burden. 

If  the  superstitious,  servile  villagers  were  spoken  to  by 
a  baron  or  baroness  of  the  district,  or  by  anyone  bearing 
the  preposition  "  von  "  or  the  adjective  "  gracious,"  which 
is  here  applied  to  all  genteel  folks  and  to  others  too,  their 
attitude  in  the  presence  of  such  people  was  as  silly  as  it 
was  amusing.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  high  folks  are 
all  good  in  the  belief  of  these  ignorant  people.  To  be  a 
baron  or  baroness,  or  to  possess  any  rank  or  title  from 
the  simple  preposition  "  von  "  up  to  the  seventh  rank  of 
nobility,  means  perfection  and  holiness,  and  fit  to  be  wor- 
shipped. At  times  I  thought  my  ears  were  deceiving  me 
when  listening  to  the  nonsense  they  were  talking  about 
the  nobility. 

An  eminent  scholar,  Professor  M.  W.,  of  the  Academy 
at  Munich,  came  to  see  me  in  my  idyllic  home.  To  him 
I  expressed  my  surprise  at  the  utter  ignorance  and  the 
superstition  of  the  people,  telling  him  that  in  the  latter 
respect  they  were,  as  I  thought,  worse  than  the  heathens, 
as  they  know  or  ought  to  know  the  teachings  of  Christ, 
which  were  the  purest  religion  of  love  and  humanity,  and 
quite  in  opposition  to  the  deplorable  darkness  and  the 


470  THE  NORTH  STAR 

servile  subjection  in  which  I  found  them  to  be.  "  Miss 
Weppner,"  he  said,  "  you  must  remember  that  civilisation 
and  true  Christianity  have  not  yet  reached  the  Roman 
Catholic  valleys  of  the  Alps." 

Professor  M.  W.  had  been  much  abroad;  he  knew 
North  America  well,  and  had  seen  the  pampas  and  the 
cordilleras  of  the  South.  But  he  also,  as  a  Bavarian,  was 
too  much  in  love  with  titles,  and  at  first  he  addressed  me 
with  the  adjective,  coveted  by  all  Bavarians  and  Austrians, 
"  gracious."  I  am  very  much  adverse  to  all  superfluous 
epithets,  and  would  certainly  not  bear  such  from  a  man 
who  knew  much  more  than  I.  The  professor  desired  to 
know  something  of  my  journey,  but  he  was  so  very  fussy 
and  ceremonious  at  first,  that  I  felt  quite  uncomfortable 
and  could  not  well  get  at  any  subject  to  begin  with.  "  Sir 
professor,"  I  said  at  last,  "  if  you  will  do  me  the  favour 
of  simply  calling  me  by  my  name,  and  not  call  me  '  gra- 
cious miss '  any  more,  I  will  try  to  tell  you  something  of 
my  journey ;  if,  however,  you  cannot  consent  to  this  con- 
dition, then  I  shall  tell  you  nothing."  My  friend  con- 
sented to  what  I  desired,  and  we  had  some  delightful 
conversation.  "  How  is  it,"  I  said  to  him  once,  "  that  all 
women  wearing  a  bonnet  and  all  men  wearing  a  hat  in  this 
blessed  land  are  called  '  gracious  ? ' '  "And  many,"  he 
replied,  "  who  do  not  wear  bonnets  or  hats  are  called'  gra- 
cious,' for  of  late  we  treat  the  barmaids  in  the  beer-cellars 
to  that  flattering  term." 

"  But  what  does  it  mean  ? "  I  said ;  "  it  may  be  called  a 
custom,  but  it  is  a  very  silly  one,  and  you  Bavarians, 
genteel  as  you  might  be,  cannot  expect  everybody  else  to 
be  '  gracious.' "  "  Do  you  not  perceive  in  this,  Miss  "W.," 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN"  CROSS.  •  471 

replied  my  friend,  smiling,  "  the  spread  and  progress  of 
the  democratic  spirit  ? "  "  Oh  yes,  I  do  now,"  I  rejoined, 
"and  no  doubt  we  shall  all  be  gracious  by-and-by." 
"Certainly,"  he  said  ;  "  king,  shepherd  and  shepherdess, 
as  well  as  my  cook,  and  my  laundress."  Professor  M.  W., 
though  far  advanced  in  life,  was  a  very  chivalrous  man, 
and  I  complained  to  him  of  the  unkind  and  rough  treat- 
ment which  my  poor  lunatic  protegee  and  I  had  received 
at  the  hands  of  his  countrymen  on  travelling  through 
Bavaria.  "And  which  nation  doyou.think,"  he  once  said, 
"  are  the  most  chivalrous,  and  which  the  most  unpolished  ? " 
"  The  Americans  and  the  English,"  I  said,  "  are  no  doubt 
the  most  chivalrous,  and  the  Arabs  and  the  Bavarians  are 
without  any  doubt  the  most  unpolished."  "  But,"  he  con- 
tinued, "don't  you  think  the  Bavarians  are  even  more  un- 
polished and  rougher  than  the  Arabs?"  "No,"  I  said, 
"  I  don't  think  so,  for  I  had  to  thrash  the  Arabs,  or  at 
least  to  get  them  thrashed  by  my  escorts,  but  I  never  yet 
had  a  Bavarian  thrashed."  And  I  told  my  friend,  that 
although  I  had  good  reason  to  complain  of  his  country- 
men, 1  had,  nevertheless,  much  good  to  say  about  them, 
and  that  the  Bavarians  were  either  extremely  good-natured 
and  polite  or  quite  the  reverse.  I  paid  my  friend  the  com- 
pliment that  Bavaria  had  many  eminent  scholars,  of  whom 
he  was  one,  and  that  there  were  no  better  cabmen  in  the 
world  than  his  countrymen,  the  good-natured  cabmen  of 
Munich.  In  my  home  on  the  Rhine,  I  told  him  it  was  a 
usual  saying,  "  He  is  as  good  as  a  Bavarian,"  and  also, 
"  He  is  as  rough  as  a  Bavarian." 

My  friend  the  professor  is  a  geologist  in  the  line  of 
Darwin,  but  of  a  different  belief,  and  of  more  poetical 


472  THE  NORTH  STAR 

views  and  conceptions  concerning  the  descent  of  man  than 
the  eminent  English  scholar.  We  sometimes  had  a  geo- 
logical or  anthropological  discussion,  and  I  profited  very 
much  from  his  instructive  conversation. 

On  my  return  to  Munich  I  must  say  I  soon  became 
little  less  than  sick  of  titles.  The  servant  who  attended 
to  my  room  styled  me  "  excellence  "  to  start  with.  She 
stood  before  me,  stooping,  and  I  looked  very  sharply  at 
her,  saying,  "  What,  or  whom,  do  you  mean  by  the  title 
' excellence ? '"  "I  mean  you,  l gracious  miss,' "  she  said, 
bowing  with  confusion.  "  I  have  just  come  from  a 
baroness  upstairs,  who  wants  to  be  called  '  excellence,' 
and,  as  I  did  not  know  your  title  yet,  I  thought  I  would 
call  you  '  excellence '  too."  "  Then  I  mean  to  tell  you," 
I  said  mildly  to  the  poor  frightened  girl,  "  that  I  am 
neither  an  l  excellence '  nor  a  '  gracious  miss,'  but  I  will  be 
very  land  to  you  if  in  future  you  will  not  approach  me 
in  that  pitiable,  crawling  manner,  and  if  you  will  call  me 
by  my  proper  name,  which  is  Miss  Weppner."  The  girl 
did  as  I  wished,  and  I  trained  her  to  approach  people  in  a 
manner  becoming  a  human  being,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
to  be  as  obedient  and  respectful  as  other  servants,  that 
stoop  and  crawl  before  their  mistresses.  I  now  had  a 
taste  of  the  arrogance  and  presumption  of  the  nobility, 
who  have  trained  their  slaves,  and  for  centuries  and  cen- 
turies have  kept  the  lower  classes  in  the  servile  position 
they  occupy.  I  wanted  to  be  near  my  friends,  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Haug,  and  I  had  taken  rooms  with  Madam  von  S., 
a  widow  living  opposite  to  them,  and  where  I  soon  learnt 
to  keep  at  a  distance  from  poor  nobility-keeping  boarders. 
I  do  not  like  to  describe  meals,  but  would  say  that  the  tea 


AND   THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  473 

with  which  I  was  served  the  first  evening  was  so  weak, 
and  the  bread  and  butter  so  scarce,  that  I  had  to  go  to 
my  friends  opposite  to  get  a  decent  supper  before  going 
to  bed.  The  bed-clothing  was  of  the  meanest  kind,  and 
so  were  the  towels,  and  I  went  to  sleep,  as  was  often  the 
case  in  Bavaria,  angry  with  titles  and  titled  folks.  At 
about  seven  o'clock  the  next  morning  I  heard  the  servant 
knock  at  the  door  of  her  mistress,  calling  in  timid  tones, 
"  Gracious  lady,  the  water  for  coffee  is  boiling ;  will  the 
gracious  lady  or  the  gracious  miss  (meaning  the 
daughter  of  the  house)  come  and  measure  the  coffee 
that  I  may  grind  it  ? "  "  Yes,"  called  a  voice  from 
within  the  room,  and  the  servant  went  back  to  the 
kitchen.  In  Germany,  where,  unlike  in  America  and 
England,  even,  several  of  the  "  better "  families  live  in 
one  house,  each  of  them  occupying  one  floor — rooms  and 
kitchens  are  usually  close  together,  and  any  loud  conver- 
sation or  talk  might  be  overheard  everywhere  in  the 
apartments.  Soon  after,  the  servant  brought  me  some 
coffee,  which,  in  quality,  was  equal  to  the  tea  of  the 
previous  evening,  and  while  I  drank  it  a  quarrel  was 
going  on  in  the  kitchen  in  reference  to  the  extravagance 
of  the  servant  in  using  wood.  I  heard  the  latter  say, 
(speaking,  as  servants  usually  do  in  these  parts  of  the 
world,  in  the  third  person,)  "  But  the  gracious  lady  is 
always  quarrelling  about  wood,  and  I  cannot  make  the 
coffee  water  boil  without  it."  During  the  forenoon, 
Madam  von  S.  came  to  my  sitting-room,  telling  me, 
with  an  assuming  and  offended  air,  how  surprised  she  was 
that  I  had  not  yet  paid  my  respects  to  her  daughter.  I 
asked  her  how  this  could  possibly  have  been,  as  I  had  not 


474  THE  NORTH  STAR 

yet  seen  her,  and  had  not  been  introduced  to  her.  But 
she  answered  arrogantly,  "  We  are  noble,  Miss  Weppner ; 
my  daughter  has  been  brought  up  in  a  school  where  only 
the  daughters  of  the  highest  nobility  are  received; 
she  cannot,  of  course,  come  to  see  you  first,  nor  can  I 
introduce  you  to  her.  As  a  lady,  whom  I  received  into 
my  house,  it  is  your  place  to  send  the  servant  to 
inquire  whether  my  daughter  can  receive  you,  and 
then  you  should  go  and  pay  your  respects  to  her,  for, 
although  we  receive  a  boarder,  we  will  not  be  slighted  in 
our  position.  We  belong,"  she  concluded,  "  to  the  best 
nobility  of  the  land."  "  Madam  von  S.,"  I  said,  "  having 
come  to  your  house  as  a  boarder,  and  paying  well  for  all  I 
receive,  I  do  not  consider  it  my  duty,  nor  have  I  the  time 
or  inclination,  to  go  and  pay  my  respects  to  your  daughter 
first.  I  think  it  would  be  well  of  you  to  introduce  me 
to  her,  and  I  will  not  be  subjected  to  any  rules  and  for- 
malities that  could  affect  my  own  pride  and  dignity.  And, 
as  regards  the  nobility  of  which  you  so  much  boast,  I  have 
tasted  nothing  of  it  in  my  tea  of  last  night,  nor  in  my 
coffee  this  morning,  so  you  will  please  give  me  my  bill 
for  what  I  have  received,  and  I  shall  have  left  your  house 
before  dinner."  "  Oh,  no  !  "  she  said,  and  her  arrogance 
fell  to  the  ground ;  "  you  must  not  go  ;  I  shall  make  up  for 
your  bad  tea  and  coffee  at  dinner-time,  and  at  once  will 
send  the  servant  to  get  some  nice  veal  cutlets  for  you. 
Being  noble,  we  have  to  keep  up  appearances,  and  the 
money  I  receive  from  a  boarder  helps  me  to  pay  the  rent 
of  my  apartments."  "  If  you  really  want  people  to  help 
you  along,"  I  rejoined,  "  you  had  better  take  some  of  your 
own  standing,  and  not  receive  a  woman  without  a  title, 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  475 

and  then  attempt  to  subject  her  to  your  slavish  notions 
of  inferiority."  I  paid  the  gracious  lady  my  bill  and  left, 
and  on  the  same  day  my  friends  learnt  from  a  neighbour 
that  the  servants  of  Madam  von  S.,  of  whom  she  kept 
but  one,  seldom  stayed  their  first  month  out,  and  that 
during  the  time  they  stayed,  they  were  partly  fed  by  the 
people  living  on  the  floor  below  Madam  von  S.,  who 
were  not  noble,  but  belonged  to  the  substantial  mercantile 
class. 

Empty,  high-sounding  titles,  as  I  have  found  in  many 
cases,  blind  their  possessors,  and  in  Munich  especially  I 
met  many  ill-trained,  narrow-minded  women,  many 
"countesses,"  "baronesses,"  and  "gracious  ladies,"  con- 
tenting themselves  with  their  silly  titles,  and  neglecting 
their  minds.  It  is  mostly  in  the  families  of  the  pro- 
fessional classes  that  we  meet  women  who  have  a  know- 
ledge of  the  world,  and  know  something  more  to  talk 
about  than  to  analyse  the  respective  merits,  and  to  retail 
the  scandals  of  the  nobility  of  the  town,  and  to  waste 
their  time  in  ridiculous  compliments  and  in  laziness. 
I  would  here  mention  that  the  Republican  women 
in  America,  of  the  poorer  as  well  as  of  the  richer 
classes,  generally  have  much  more  to  say  upon  intelligent 
subjects,  and,  on  the  whole,  possess  a  higher  education 
than  the  women  of  the  nobility  of  Bavaria,  whom  I  found 
extremely  narrow-minded,  very  few  of  them  being  gifted 
with  a  superior  mind,  and  most  of  them  speaking  the  Low 
Bavarian  dialect,  evincing  nothing  of  the  beauty  and 
charm  of  the  pure  High  German  language.  But  the 
social  conditions  are  far  different  at  Frankfort-on-the 
Maine,  where,  unlike  Munich,  the  substantial  mercantile 


476  THE  NORTH  STAR 

and  the  professional  classes  form  a  stronger  body  than 
the  nobility,  and  consequently  there  we  meet  with  more 
rational  views  and  less  adoration  of  titles  than  in  the 
capital  of  Bavaria,  where,  as  I  styled  it,  people  have  a 
perfect  mania  for  titles  and  superfluous  compliments. 
In  Frankfort,  a  professor  or  a  respectable  merchant, 
whether  he  sells  wholesale  or  retail,  is  on  a  level  with  a 
respectable  baron,  and  the  annoying  epithets  "  gracious 
sir,"  "  gracious  lady,"  "  gracious  miss  "  are,  thanks  to  the 
culture  and  sound  sense  and  the  simplicity  of  the  in- 
habitants, not  in  use  at  Frankfort-on-the-Maine.  Retail 
as  well  as  wholesale  merchants  are  entrusted  with 
prominent  positions,  and  such  unreasonable  customs  as 
the  English  have  established  in  Yokohama  and  other 
places  in  the  East,  of  looking  down  upon  respectable  retail 
or  other  merchants  could  never  take  root  in  Frankfort- 
on-the-Maine.  And  what  I  said  of  good  old  Frankfort 
might  equally  be  applied  to  Hamburg  and  to  every  large 
town  in  Germany  where  the  merits  of  the  mercantile  and 
professional  classes  have  superseded  the  nobility,  and 
where  cultured  and  honest  people  can  afford  to  look  down 
on  the  lazy  military  and  a  needy,  starving  aristocracy, 
who  prefer  feeding  on  disgrace  to  honourable  work.  To 
the  latter,  some  of  whom  may  yet  feel  ashamed  to  eat 
the  bread  earned  and  toiled  for  by  their  despised  hard- 
working plebeian  brothers  and  sisters,  I  would  hold  up  as 
an  example  to  a  worthier  and  better  life  their  enterprising, 
energetic,  and  industrious  countrymen  whom  I  have  met 
in  every  part  of  the  world.  But  of  course  I  must  here 
exclude  a  couple  of  my  countrymen  in  Japan,  and  one  in 
China,  as  I  cannot  find  it  either  in  my  heart  or  conscience 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  477 

to  set  tftem  as  an  example  for  any  decent  purpose  or 
motive.  But  I  once  more  take  pleasure  in  bringing 
forward  my  dear  countrymen  in  America ;  there  German 
merchants  of  all  branches,  doctors,  professors,  artists, 
agriculturists,  and  mechanics,  they  all  toil  on  bravely, 
and  in  most  instances  with  gratifying  results.  I  am, 
however,  not  quite  sure  how  the  deserters  of  our  lazy 
glorious  army,  counts,  barons,  and  other  worn-out  officers 
who  land  in  "  that  contemptible,  Eepublican  America " 
as  physical  and  moral  wrecks,  are  getting  along  there. 
Some,  as  I  learned,  take  to  a  healthy,  honourable  diet,  and 
even  to  boot-cleaning ;  and  I  was  once  waited  upon  in  a 
restaurant  in  New  York  by  a  baron  of  Coblenz-on-the- 
Rhine,  who  in  happier  times,  and  to  which  he  owed  his 
ruin  and  flight  to  America,  had  been  a  colonel  in  the  army 
of  King  William,  and  who  had  (wicked  man  as  he  was) 
assisted  that  gentleman  and  Count  Bismarck  to  snatch 
away  that  dainty  morsel,  the  beautiful  territory  of  Nassau, 
and  had  helped  them  to  annex  my  lovely  home  and  me,  for 
which,  while  the  baron  waited  on  me  with  an  oyster  soup, 
I  gave  him  a  good  scolding. 

In  bringing  forward  my  worthy  countrymen  in  America 
as  an  example  to  others  at  home,  I  take  this  opportunity 
here  to  exclude  them  (and  even  the  baron  waiter  I  men- 
tioned in  my  last  paragraph,  for  he  was  very  polite  to 
me)  from  any  and  all  the  complaints  which  in  the  course 
of  my  narrative  I  have  brought  forth  respecting  the  want 
of  chivalry  of  some  of  those  Teutons  whom  I  met  on  my 
trip.  And  with  my  good  countrymen  in  America  I  must 
compare  all  those  German  chevaliers  whom  I  have  met 
at  home  and  abroad.  Of  course  1  do  not  mean  the 


478  THE  NORTH  STAR 

chevaliers  of  a  very  questionable  "better"  blood,  and  an 
empty  appendage  of  inherited  or  purchased  titles.  But  I 
certainly  mean  those  men  of  all  social  ranks  who  have 
ennobled  themselves,  or  whose  genius  and  personal  worth 
have  been  awarded  a  justly  deserved  distinction  and  name 
—  chevaliers  who  have  ascended  that  sphere  of  moral 
greatness  where  they  can  behold  women  equal  with 
themselves  in  their  own  rights  and  in  their  respective 
stations  in  life,  and  who  will  always  be  the  true  friend 
of  the  weaker  sex.  With  such  men,  no  matter  to  what 
nation  they  belong,  it  has  become  a  principle,  a  self- 
imposed  duty,  to  respect  women ;  by  them  women  will 
be  treated  as  beings  who,  although  weaker  and  more 
sensitive  than  themselves,  have  been  chosen  by  Heaven 
to  shine  foremost  in  society,  and  who,  poor  souls !  when 
they  happen  to  be  what  they  should  be,  are  the  angels 
of  humanity  destined  to  sweeten  the  existence  of  man. 
I  have  met  many  good  and  noble  Germans,  true  cheva- 
liers, with  and  without  a  title,  and  I  know  that  my 
lamentations  cannot  affect  them,  for  I  shall  honour  their 
memory  for  ever. 

Nor  do  I  wish  here  to  complain  against  any  individual 
in  particular ;  I  draw  my  conclusions  from  my  observa- 
tions of  a  custom  generally  prevailing,  but  the  further  I 
travel  on  German  soil  the  more  I  feel  convinced  that,  on 
the  whole,  as  respects  chivalry  to  the  fair  sex,  it  is  not 
so  universal  a  custom  nor  yet  so  national  a  virtue  in  my 
own  dear  country  as  I  have  observed  it  to  be  in  America 
and  England,  and  in  those  countries  and  settlements 
abroad  which  have  been  colonised  and  nationalised  by 
Anglo-Saxons.  And  to  them  I  would  likewise  add  the 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  479 

good  Dutch  people,  who  have  treated  me  so  very  kindly. 
In  Germany,  with  the  people  at  large  the  phrase  "  respect 
for  women"  has  still  far  too  much  of  a  poetical  and 
metaphysical  ring  about  it,  it  is  no  universal  virtue. 
It  is  still  an  ideal  uncomprehended  and  ungrasped  by 
the  ordinary  Teutonic  mind ;  whereas  among  ordinary 
Americans  and  Englishmen  it  is  no  mere  poetic  phrase, 
no  ideal  unrealised  as  yet,  but  an  actual  and  practical  fact, 
a  virtue  inborn  in  the  nation  and  common  to  its  members, 
though  not  without  exceptions.  I  could  wish  very 
much  that  the  good  German  people,  some  gentlemen 
as  well  as  peasants,  would  be  a  little  less  busy  and  fiery 
in  their  songs  of  women,  and  would  descend  some  steps 
with  the  ideal  woman,  take  the  real  woman  from  the 
plough,  the  axe,  and  cart,  so  as  to  place  the  ideal  woman 
and  the  real  woman  on  equal  ground,  and  be  as  true  in 
heart  and  prose  as  they  are  in  songs  and  poetry. 

Often  while  abroad  I  heard  the  complaint  that  the 
Germans  are  neither  generous  nor  hospitable,  which  I 
consider  cannot  be  applied  to  the  Germans  in  America,  who 
have  treated  me  most  generously.  They  live  among  a  hospit- 
able liberal  people,  whose  highly  praiseworthy  qualities, 
they  have,  in  a  great  measure,  adopted,  viz.,  hospitality 
and  generosity .  The  Germans  are,  however,  a  very  saving 
people,  and  perhaps  some  of  them,  like  many  others,  are 
too  much  so.  It  is  even  said  in  America,  where  Germans 
are  far  more  liberal  than  at  home,  that  a  German  can 
live  where  no  Irishman  can  live,  but  that  an  Irishman 
can  live  where  no  American  can  live.  But  I  know  that 
the  poor  German  emigrants,  and  the  sick  and  the 
suffering,  who  have  come  from  the  old  Fatherland,  are 


480  THE  NORTH  STAR 

never  forsaken  by  their  liberal  country-people  in  America, 
and  German  hospitals  and  their  relief  societies  deserve  to 
be  mentioned  with  all  praise. 

The  characteristic  generosity  of  the  French  nation  I 
heard  spoken  of  hi  every  country  in  the  highest  terms, 
and  I,  a  German  and  a  Prussian,  have  in  many  instances 
experienced  this  noble  quality  of  the  French  people.  And 
I  would  not  be  led  to  draw  an  unjust  conclusion  as  to 
the  treatment  I  have  received  from  one  mean,  exasperated 
Frenchwoman  in  Alexandria  and  a  few  bigoted,  narrow- 
minded  French  nuns  in  India  and  Eygpt ;  indeed  it  might 
be  questioned  how  a  Frenchwoman  travelling  during  the 
war  among  Bavarians  and  Prussians  would  have  been 
treated  at  their  hands.  The  French  nation  no  doubt 
possess  some  very  noble  qualities,  and  in  generosity  I 
venture  to  say  they  far  excel  their  German  neighbours, 
and  the  dignity  and  resignation  with  which  they  bear 
their  late  misfortune  speak  decidedly  in  their  favour. 
And  having  at  the  very  outset  of  my  journey  expe- 
rienced such  rare  kindness  from  some  venerable  French 
gentlemen  in  Paris  and  from  my  good  motherly 
friend  at  Havre,  I  could  never  speak  unkindly  of  the 
truly  good-hearted  and  obliging  French  people,  for 
generosity  is  one  of  the  noblest  virtues  that  adorn  the 
human  heart. 

The  Engh'sh  nation  I  have  learned  to  hold  in  high 
esteem,  for  wherever  I  came  amongst  them  I  was  sure  of 
meeting  with  religion,  chivalry,  and  truth  and  honour; 
and  judging  from  my  own  personal  experiences,  and  the 
kind  treatment  I  have  received  at  their  hands,  there  is  no 
people  whom  I  could  esteem  more  highly  than  the 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  481 

English.     But  I  am   sorry    to    say  that   some   of  their 
characteristics,  which  I  frequently  had  occasion  to  observe 
amongst  them,  have  left  a  painful  impression  on  my  mind. 
The  prerogatives  of  birth  and  rank  are  quite  as  deplorable 
among  the  English  higher  classes  as  among  the  Germans ; 
and  the  distinctions   of   society   and  the    restrictions  of 
social  intercourse  are  even  worse  with  the  English  than 
with  the  Germans.     This  sad  evil  robs  social  intercourse 
of  its  chann  and  the  mutual  advantages  it  might  bestow, 
and  restricts  natural  inclinations  to  such  an  extent  that 
even    the  kindest-hearted   men   often  become  externally 
cold  and  hard.     Their  offspring  are  brought  up  in   the 
prejudices  of  distinctions  of  rank,  and  I  have  met  many 
Christian  English  mothers  who  look  upon  this   part   of 
their  children's  education  as  an  aristocratic  duty.  Children 
are  actually  taught  to  shun  the  poor  and  the  oppressed. 
The  pride  and  the  arrogance   of   some   of   the   English 
nobility  is,  to  say  the  least,  disgusting  to  observe  in  any 
Christian   or  heathen  ;    and  I  can  but  wonder  how  the 
respectable  middle  classes,  who  in   England,   as    among 
any  other  people,  form  the  Me  and  pith  and  marrow  of 
the  nation,  can  tolerate,  in   this   nineteenth   century   of 
boasted    mental    development,    the    silly    unreasonable 
presumption  of  birth  and  rank  and   the    superiority    of 
blood.     If  the  blood  of  the  high-born  were  indeed  better 
than  the  blood  of  the  lower  born,  should  not  our  nobles 
be  free  from  the  many  failings  which  flesh  is  heir   to? 
Should  not  the  princes  and  the  high-born   of    the    des- 
potic lands  in  Europe,  through  whose  brains  and   veins, 
such  precious  blood  circulates,  set  to  others  an  example 
of  purity,  morality,  and  mental  culture?     Should  they 
VOL.  n.  31 


482  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

not,  being  the  heroes  of  noble  names,  and  the  owners  of  a 
special  quality  of  blood,  be  also  the  heroes  of  virtue  and 
intellect?  If  they  are  our  gods,  why  are  they  not  our 
sages,  our  teachers,  our  models  ?  Are  not  our  brains  fed 
and  stimulated  by  our  blood ;  and  I  ask  of  the  man  of 
reason,  if  there  really  exists  in  human  nature  a  difference 
in  the  quality  of  blood,  why,  then,  does  it  not  show  itself 
in  its  actions?  why  does  a  superior  human  blood  not 
influence  and  better  the  human  heart  —  why  not  ennoble 
the  mind  and  soul  ?  Alas !  for  this  deplorable  blindness, 
to  say  "  civilised  Europe."  If  we  should  transfer  a 
princess  at  the  tender  age  of  a  twelvemonth  to  the  Seven 
Dials  in  London  and  transfer  a  poor  child  of  the  Seven 
Dials  to  a  royal  palace,  and  tram  the  former  among 
people  of  inferior  blood,  and  the  latter  among  people  of 
the  highest  blood,  we  should  perceive,  when  our  pupils 
reached  the  age  of  eighteen,  that  training  and  a  better 
influence,  intercourse  and  education,  and  not  the  differ- 
ence in  the  quality  of  the  blood,  makes  the  lady  and  the 
gentleman  of  the  land. 

Whenever  I  read  in  English  newspapers,  "  A  companion 
with  high  accomplishments,  and  born  a  lady,  seeks  an 
engagement,"  I  think  it  would  be  far  more  just  to  say, 
"A  woman,  born  a  baby,  and  trained  a  lady,  seeks  an 
engagement  as  companion."  "The  world  is  blind;  it 
deceives,  and  wishes  to  be  deceived,"  said  to  me  one  of  the 
wisest  men  of  our  present  age,  with  whom  I  was  convers- 
ing on  the  subject  of  the  difference  of  blood  and  of  the 
nobility. 

Any  man  or  woman  not  deaf  to  reason,  and  who  has 
read  the  history  of  the  Western  nations,  will  know  how 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  GROSS.  483 

nobility  at  all  times  and  in  every  century  has  crept  into 
the  world,  and  what  to  think  about  it.  It  is  indeed  sad 
that  so  many  apparently  healthy-minded  men  of  the 
middle  classes  in  England  can  despise  their  own  class; 
when  speaking  of  the  nobility,  they  entirely  forget  their 
own  dignity,  and,  to  judge  from  what  they  say,  they 
firmly  believe  that  the  blood  of  the  latter  is  superior  to 
theirs,  and  that  noble-born  men  and  women  are  better 
than  themselves.  "  "What  is  the  reason,"  I  once  said  to 
an  educated  English  lady,  "  of  this  silly  worship  of  the 
nobility  ?  Is  it  their  blood,  rank  and  title,  or  their  intel- 
lect, which  you  worship  ? "  "  Oh  no."  she  replied,  "  cer- 
tainly not  their  intellect ;  some  of  them  are  very  intellect- 
ual, but  not  more  so  than  are  other  men  of  inferior  blood. 
Our  nobility,"  she  went  on,  "  is  very  rich,  and  it  is  more 
their  wealth  which  we  respect."  "Does  it,"  I  said, 
"  deserve  any  merit  or  respect  to  hold  the  millions  together 
which  they  inherit  from  their  ancestors,  and  which,  through 
the  advantage  of  English  laws,  go  on  increasing  from  cen- 
tury to  century  so  as  to  encourage  idleness,  arrogance,  and 
neglect  of  the  mind  ? " 

The  silly  explanations  which  we  get  from  some  of  the 
middle  classes  in  respect  of  their  adoration  of  the  nobility 
are  a  clear  proof  that  not  all  of  the  middle  classes  have  as 
yet  learned  to  know  themselves,  and  that,  if  they  are 
looked  down  upon  with  supreme  contempt,  it  is  in  a  great 
measure  their  own  lack  of  self-respect  which  causes  it. 
Have  not  the  worshippers  of  blood  and  titles  the  un- 
deniable facts  —  the  facts  of  every  day  —  that  out  of  the 
classes  of  inferior  blood,  as  it  pleases  fools  to  call  it,  have 
sprung  the  greatest  men,  the  heroes  and  kings  of  intellect, 


484  THE  NORTH  STAR 

who  have  dragged  on  and  dragged  forward  humanity  to 
its  present  state,  and  have  immortalised  their  names  for 
all  eternity  ?  To  which  men  does  England  owe  its  fame  ? 
Are  its  most  brilliant  men  of  the  past  and  its  political 
leaders  of  the  present  day  not  men  of  the  so-called  in- 
ferior blood  ?  But  in  intellect  and  in  wisdom,  are  they 
not  the  equals  of  those  of  the  highest  blood  ?  and  do  they 
not  stand  far  above  many  of  them  ? 

I  am  aware  that  many  will  not  like  what  I  have  stated, 
but  this  does  not  prevent  it  from  being  true,  nor  will 
their  displeasure  prevent  the  final  triumph  of  justice 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth  ;  for  I  firmly  believe  that 
such  is  the  will  of  God,  and  that  in  the  course  of  time  we 
shall  learn  to  classify  mankind  as  a  wise  Creator  has 
classified  nature. 

To  my  mind,  men  should  be  valued  according  to  their 
personal  character,  intellect,  and  mental  abilities,  not  by 
their  accidental  birth  as  princes,  nobles,  middle  class  or 
"  commoners."  We  should  classify  mankind  as  God  has 
classified  all  objects  in  nature,  animate  or  inanimate.  A 
plant  or  an  insect  that  displays  more  beauty  or  evinces 
more  utility  than  another  is  considered  superior ;  and 
similarly  a  man  who,  for  the  benefit  of  his  race,  employs 
more  strength  of  will,  more  talents  and  wisdom  than 
another,  should  be  estimated  according  to  his  merits. 
Such  a  principle  of  classification  would  certainly  be  in 
harmony  with  the  will  of  our  Creator,  as  is  shown  in  all 
systems  found  in  nature.  Any  other  classifications,  I 
venture  to  say  distinctly,  are  against  the  Divine  laws  and 
the  will  of  God;  they  are  the  outcome  of  pride  and 
arrogance,  of  greed  and  selfishness  and  ignorance.  From 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  485 

them  proceed  all  the  disorders  and  deeds  of  injustice 
among  nations,  whether  Christian  or  heathen ;  they  cause 
misery  to  many  while  yielding  gratification  to  a  few,  who 
heed  not  the  dire  consequences  of  their  inordinate  pursuit 
of  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness. 

The  examples  furnished  by  superior  minds,  and  a  just 
and  well-deserved  classification  of  men  of  culture  alone, 
would  be  the  safest  and  speediest  means  of  improving 
the  condition  of  mankind.  The  fallen  prince  and  the 
lowliest  beggar  would  equally  be  stimulated  to  rival  the 
man  whose  superior  intellect  had  raised  him  above  them. 
Moreover  the  wrath  of  Communists  of  every  grade,  and 
their  persistent  craving  for  social  alleviation,  would  thus 
be  appeased.  As  the  different  temperaments  of  mankind, 
their  natural  distinctions  of  brain  and  organism,  do  not 
permit  of  an  absolute  mental  equality  ;  so  an  equality  of 
property  such(as  the  Communists  claim  is  impossible,  and 
would  be  without  a  plea  of  justification,  were  despotism 
and  the  caste-system  abolished.  The  different  degrees  of 
knowledge,  and  the  different  mental  powers  of  mankind, 
not  the  artificial  varieties  introduced  by  so-called  princes 
and  nobles,  nor  yet  the  absurdly  vaunted  qualities  of 
"gentle  blood,"  should  be  the  criterion  of  classification 
among  nations;  intellect  and  mental  ability,  united 
with  good  character,  should  furnish  the  only  passports 
to  distinction  in  any  truly  civilised  and  Christian 
land. 

But  as  long  as  men  are  blind,  and  as  long  as  the  middle 
classes  humbly  consent  to  be  looked  down  upon  by 
those  above  them,  and  as  long  as  the  inferior  classes  re- 
ceive no  better  training,  and  are  kept  down  by  the  higher 


486  THE  NORTH  STAR 

and  middle  classes  —  as  long  as  society  is  divided  into  so 
many  fractions,  what,  in  the  meantime,  will  become  of 
the  lowly  born  ?  what  will  become  of  the  bulk  of  the 
nation,  against  whom  all  gates  are  shut?  It  is  easy  to 
answer  this  question.  They  are  kept  for  centuries,  year  in, 
year  out,  in  their  habitual  narrow  sphere ;  they  never  see 
a  better  picture  to  look  upon  than  their  own,  and  which, 
ugly  as  it  is,  will  never  encourage  them  to  improve  it.  Of 
qualities  which  belong  to  a  higher  culture  they  never 
learn  to  know  the  meaning.  But  any  human  creature, 
whether  of  the  highest  blood,  of  the  middle-class  blood, 
or  of  the  meanest  or  inferior  blood,  will  have,  and  wants 
something  to  feed  upon.  And  as  the  latter  have  nothing 
to  feed  their  brains  with,  which  is  especially  the  case  in 
England,  where  social  restrictions  and  prejudices  are  a 
regulated,  an  inhuman,  and  an  unchristian  system,  they 
must  needs,  while  waiting  for  better  things,  feed  their 
animal  nature,  and,  therefore,  intemperance  is  a  system  as 
firmly  established  and  as  deeply  rooted  in  the  English 
nation  as  the  system  and  the  belief  in  a  different  quality 
of  blood.  The  name  of  England  is  a  synonym  for  love  of 
truth,  for  love  of  honour,  and  of  manly  virtue ;  but  the 
intern/per ance  of  the  untrained  and  lower  classes  is  a  blot 
on  England's  fame.  The  latter,  as  I  have  previously 
stated,  stand  low,  very  low  —  they  stand  lower  than  any- 
where else.  They  are  unable  to  propel  themselves  by 
any  moral  or  intellectual  effort,  and  the  classes  above 
them  are  too  proud  and  indifferent,  and  unwilling  to 
propel  them.  Intemperance  is  a  vice  of  the  untrained, 
uneducated,  and  unprivileged,  and  is  an  inheritance  from 
remote  periods  of  huge  animal  indulgence,  and  which  no 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  487 

superficial  treatment  will  remove.  And  if  the  lower 
classes  of  England  cannot  be  allowed  to  look  on  and  see 
a  better  picture  of  life  and  society ;  if  the  spread  of 
intellect  is  not  given  full  play,  and  the  social  barriers 
remain  unbarred  in  the  future,  as  they  have  been  in  the 
past — then,  fifty  years  hence  we  shall  see  the  same  dis- 
graceful men  and  women,  and  the  same  abominations  and 
ruffianism  in  the  streets  of  London,  and  in  any  other  city 
of  Great  Britain,  as  the  world  has  seen  fifty  years  ago 
and  is  seeing  now. 

It  is  clear  to  any  candid  observer,  that  the  lower 
classes  do  too  little  for  their  own  improvement,  and  that 
their  deplorable  position  is  owing  to  the  insufficiency  of 
what  has  hitherto  been  done  for  their  training  and 
welfare.  Charitable  institutions  exist  in  abundance,  and 
money  flows  in  freely  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  and  the 
outcast ;  but  if  the  offspring  of  the  lowly  and  the  igno- 
rant were  to  receive,  from  their  earliest  childhood,  the 
one  great  blessing  of  Christian  sympathy  combined  with 
good  training,  a  large  number  of  charitable  asylums  and 
repressive  institutions  which  now  exist  could  very  easily 
be  dispensed  with. 

The  School  Board  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction,  but 
it  is  only  a  step.  A  professedly  Christian  nation  should 
do  much  more.  Should  we  not  effectively  warn  our  fellow- 
beings  against  a  deadly  poison,  rather  than  allow  them  to 
succumb  to  its  baneful  effects  before  offering  them  an 
antidote  ? 

From  personal  observation  I  can  say  that  there  is 
no  nation  so  disgraced  by  the  female  sex,  so  dis- 
graced by  its  drunken  women  parading  before  the 


488  TEE  NORTH  STAB 

public,  a  disgust  to  the  eye,  than  the  English  nation. 
And  their  high-blooded,  well-bred  sisters  of  the  land 
can  look  at  them  without  pitying  them !  No  friend,  no 
missionary,  succeeds  in  freeing  or  redeeming  the  slaves  of 
ignorance,  the  slaves  of  filth  and  intemperance,  the  real 
pagans  at  home. 

London  has  a  type  all  its  own  of  depraved,  drunken, 
and  filthy  women ;  their  blood-shot  faces,  their  filthy 
shawls  and  dresses,  cannot  be  matched  anywhere  in  those 
countries  which  I  know.  Even  the  indescribably  filthy 
beggars  in  Pekin  are  less  repulsive  to  look  upon  than  a 
drunken  female  in  the  streets  of  London,  for  none  of  the 
Pekin  beggars  have  I  ever  seen  in  a  state  of  intoxication. 
And  it  is  more  natural  that  the  straw  mats  with  which 
they  cover  their  bodies  should  rot  and  bear  the  resem- 
blance of  manure,  than  that  we  should  see,  in  the  capital 
of  Great  Britain,  drunken  women,  with  faces,  shawls,  and 
dress,  more  filthy,  more  repulsive  to  look  upon  than  manure 
itself. 

America  complains  of  the  intemperance  of  its  people ; 
but  from  what  I  could  observe,  it  has  much  less  reason  to 
complain  than  England.  It  is  in  the  capital  of  Japan 
and  in  London  that  I  have  seen  the  most  repulsive  scenes 
of  intemperance ;  with  the  difference,  however,  that  in 
Jeddo  I  saw  no  drunken  women,  while  in  London  there 
are  as  many  drunken  women  as  drunken  men.  In  America, 
from  New  York  to  San  Francisco,  I  have  not  seen  one 
drunken  female,  nor  did  I  ever  see  such  a  horror  in  any 
public  place  in  Germany.  American  women,  generally 
speaking,  whatever  their  failings  may  be,  are  too  well 
trained  and  too  intellectual  to  lower  themselves  in  the 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  489 

eyes  of  the  public.  Neither  has  America  so  numerous  a 
class  of  street  ruffians  and  drunken  men  as  England  has ; 
for  in  the  United  States  everyone  is  trained  to  know  and 
to  feel  that  he  is  as  good  as  any  other  ;  every  one  has  a 
right  to  work  himself  up  in  society,  which  instigates  the 
personal  pride  of  man,  and  preserves  his  self-respect  and 
outward  decency.  I  never  once  in  America  heard  or  saw 
a  single  instance  of  that  foolish,  inhuman  pride  which  I 
have  observed  among  the  higher  English  classes.  It  is  a 
significant  fact,  that  where  the  insane  belief  in  higher 
blood,  and  the  absurd  dogma  of  a  divine  class  of  mortals, 
do  not  exist,  and  where  everyone  is  taught  to  appreciate 
his  own  worth,  fools  and  other  people  have  to  bow  down  to, 
and  to  shake  hands  with,  their  equals,  and  cannot  ascend 
to  the  gods. 

I  have  a  little  episode  to  illustrate  the  system  of  caste, 
as  existing  among  certain  Christians,  and  the  inhuman, 
offensive  pride  with  which  some  of  them  dare  to  treat 
their  fellow-men.  On  my  journey  through  the  East,  I 
spent  some  time  in  the  house  of  a  liberal  Englishman, 
who  counted  among  his  friends  an  American  sea  captain. 
This  captain  is  a  very  worthy  and  highly  cultivated  man, 
and  when  this  story  took  place  he  was  the  guest  of  his 
British  friend.  A  British  nobleman,  Sir  X.,  the  ex- 
governor  of  a  remote  colony,  came  to  the  house  of  the 
latter  at  the  same  time.  The  kind-hearted  host  was 
anxious  that  his  two  guests,  his  friend  the  captain  and 
Sir  X.,  should  become  acquainted.  The  nobleman  was 
sitting  in  the  drawing-room,  when  the  master  of  the 
house  came  in  with  his  American  friend.  He  led  him  up 
to  his  guest,  saying,  "  Sir  X.,  this  is  my  friend  Captain  H., 


490  TEE  NORTH  STAR 

from  Boston,  America."  The  captain,  in  true  American 
fashion,  held  out  his  hand  to  the  nobleman,  and  said, 
"  Sir  X.,  I  am  pleased,"  &c.,  &c.  But  Sir  X.,  without 
taking  the  proffered  hand,  turned  aside  with  the  most 
scornful  and  offended  air,  and  drawing  back  a  few  steps, 
he  instantly  left  the  room  and  the  house  of  his  friend,  and 
host,  and  fellow-countryman.  The  kind  and  well-meaning 
host  was  so  hurt  that  the  tears  started  to  his  eyes ;  he 
took  the  rejected  hand  of  his  American  friend,  and, 
pressing  it  warmly,  said,  "  Pray  forgive  the  insult  of  my 
high-born  countryman  ;  he  is  a  fool."  The  liberal  English- 
man gave  up  his  friendship  with  Sir  X.,  who,  in  his  stupid 
and  inhuman  pride,  had  taken  offence  that  a  Republican 
should  be  introduced  to  him,  and  that  this  Republican,  an 
ordinary  man,  and  nothing  more  than  a  sea  captain,  had 
dared  to  offer  his  hand  to  him. 

I  often  since  have  read  the  name  of  this  nobleman  in 
the  European  newspapers,  and  this  in  connection  with  a 
democratic  affair,  which,  as  I  think,  has  less  to  do  with 
his  principles  and  convictions  than  with  the  satisfaction 
of  ambition,  it  being  a  means  of  obtaining  fame.  Christ, 
had  He  been  in  the  position  of  Sir  X.,  who  calls  himself 
a  Christian,  would  certainly  not  have  declined  the  hand 
of  the  American  captain,  but  would  have  greeted  him 
in  the  most  humane  and  friendly  manner. 

I  am  also  personally  acquainted  with  a  German  pro- 
fessor, a  celebrated  scholar  of  the  Oriental  tongues,  who 
has  held  an  important  post  under  the  English  Govern- 
ment in  India.  This  learned  gentleman,  as  he  told  me 
himself,  considers  the  system  of  caste,  and  the  divisions 
of  society  amongst  the  English  of  India,  quite  as  bad  as 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  491 

the  castes  and  the  different  social  barriers  amongst  the 
natives.  "  It  is,"  said  the  learned  man,  "  the  spirit  of  the 
age,  reason,  and  mental  progress  that  now  agitate  the 
Indian  people,  and  cause  the  fusion  and  friction  of  the 
various  castes  and  races ;  the  exam]  >le  of  Christians  would 
never  cause  a  change  for  the  better."  The  professor  and 
his  wife,  a  very  amiable  and  cultivated  German  lady, 
were  residing  near  the  president  of  the  college.  The 
latter  was  an  Englishman,  who  considered  himself  one 
degree  higher  than  the  German  savant,  and  consequently 
he  thought  it  beneath  his  presidential  dignity  to  receive 
the  professor  in  his  family  circle.  His  wife,  of  course, 
stood  as  high  as  her  husband,  and  would  never  receive 
the  professor's  wife,  and  both  were  made  to  understand 
that  in  England  people  receive  only  such  people  as  are 
just  as  good  as  themselves,  and  no  others.  For  five  long 
years  the  two  European  families  were  living  close  to- 
gether in  a  small  solitary  spot,  in  hot  unfriendly  India, 
and  never  learned  to  know  each  other.  The  gentlemen 
never  met  except  in  business  relations,  and  the  ladies 
never  could  meet,  the  one  degree  —  difference  of  caste — 
being  impassable  to  the  Christian  English  lady.  "  She 
never  approached  me  and  never  spoke  to  me,"  said  the 
offended  German  lady, "  and  by  her  arrogant,  contemptuous 
bearing,  she  defied  me  to  approach  her ;  and  even  her  stiff 
bows  were  an  insult  to  me."  "  In  our  desire  for  inter- 
course," added  the  professor,  "we  used  to  invite  our 
gardener,  a  native  of  common  sense,  who  whiled  away  many 
of  our  lonely  evenings ;  but,"  he  concluded,  "  I  find  it  hard 
to  forget  the  insulting  pride  which  my  wife  and  I  had  to 
endure  at  the  hands  of  some  of  our  English  neighbours  in 


492  THE  NORTH  STAR 

India."  If  there  is  anything  I  could  admire  in  such 
pharisaical,  despotic  people,  it  is  the  inflexibility  and 
stubbornness  of  their  proud,  unfeeling  hearts,  which  no 
smiling  sky,  no  music  or  poetry,  no  tears  and  misery,  and 
not  even  death,  can  reach  and  humanise.  They,  Chris- 
tians, as  they  call  themselves,  go  to  meet  their  Creator  as 
"  accomplished  Lucifers,"  and  I  fear  that  God  will  look 
upon  them  with  the  same  contempt,  and  will  treat  these 
proud  and  sensitive  Christians  as  they  have  treated  their 
own  fellow-men.  But,  thank  Heaven,  England,  of  the 
present  day,  has  a  large  class  of  liberally-minded  people, 
free  from  presumption  and  pride,  and  who  are  taking  to 
heart  the  sad  position  of  those  of  inferior  blood,  and  are 
trying  to  train  the  poor  and  improve  the  minds  of  the 
neglected  and  ignorant  Christians  and  heathens  at  home. 
They  are  no  missionaries  by  name,  but  missionaries  in 
principle  and  fact.  And  among  the  English  I  have  a 
number  of  personal  friends  whom  I  highly  admire  for  the 
greatness  and  nobility  of  their  minds,  their  sterling  prin- 
ciples, and  their  exemplary  true  Christian  lives.  Of  such 
"truly  noble  men,"  England,  methinks,  possesses  more 
than  any  country  in  Europe ;  it  has  a  class  of  rarely 
accomplished,  high-caste  men,  peculiarly  its  own  —  some 
noble  born,  and  some  inferior  born,  but  admired  alike  by 
all  the  world,  and  truly  beloved  and  honoured  at  home  and 
abroad. 

And  as  a  brilliant  star  among  the  princes  of  the  past 
and  present  stands  the  late  lamented  Prince  Consort  of 
England ;  in  memory  of  whom  I  take  pleasure  in  relating 
a  little  episode. 

A  poor  widow  in  London,  of  whom  I  bought  the  fruit- 


AND    THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  493 

basket  mentioned  in  my  narrative,  requested  me  to  write 
a  letter  for  her  to  Prince  Albert,  imploring  his  assistance 
in  her  needy  position.  I  did  so  and  wrote  a  short  note 
in  German;  a  few  days  afterwards  this  was  kindly  an- 
swered by  the  private  Secretary  of  his  Eoyal  Highness, 
who  came  to  see  the  poor  widow  and  left  her  a  generous 
gift.  Ever  since  then  I  have  loved  to  hear  the  name  of 
Prince  Albert  mentioned,  and  I  feel  no  doubt  that  the 
kindness  he  showed  towards  the  poor  needy  woman  will 
be  remembered  by  Heaven  as  regards  his  own  bereaved 
royal  widow. 

But,  reviewing  in  my  own  mind  all  I  have  seen  and 
heard  and  learned  on  my  journey  round  the  world,  there 
is  no  nation  so  worthy  to  be  held  up  as  an  example  for 
progress  of  intellect  and  the  advancement  and  welfare  of 
human  society,  and  which  contributes  more  generously  to 
any  scientific  exploration  of  the  present  age,  than  the 
American  nation.  I  am  led  to  this  final  conclusion  by  my 
own  personal  observations,  and  not  because  I  am  speaking 
of  a  free  republic.  The  republic,  indeed,  deserves  no  com- 
pliment, being  much  in  the  condition  of  a  strong-built, 
handsome,  but  disorderly  and  shabby-looking  young  man, 
who  needs  a  new  suit  of  clothes,  the  most  suitable  material 
for  which  would  be  honesty,  modesty  and  reserve.  (Would 
that  the  Centennial  might  furnish  all  that  is  necessary  for 
his  so  "  urgently- wished-f or  "  rehabilitation.}  But  the 
general  education  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  sur- 
passes, in  my  estimation,  that  of  any  nation  in  Europe.  It 
might  be  said  in  all  truth,  that  in  America  the  poor  are  not 
so  poverty-stricken,  the  uneducated  are  not  so  ignorant,  nor 
are  the  dirty  so  abjectly  sordid  as  is  the  case  in  England. 
When  all  classes  of  society  are  included,  I  would  say  that 


494  THE  NORTH  STAR 

the  outward  bearing,  and  the  general  personal  appearance, 
that  mark  the  people  of  America  betoken  more  intelli- 
gence, more  self-respect  and  more  refinement  than  are  to 
be  found  anywhere  among  the  nations  of  Europe.  More- 
over, as  the  lowest  there  stand  higher  than  the  lowest  in 
European  lands,  and  as  the  "  rights  of  man "  are  not 
barred  there  by  absurd  human  inventions,  such  as  a 
system  of  caste  and  a  classification  of  blood  according  to 
supposed  degrees  of  natural  pre-eminence,  I  was  led  to  the 
belief  that  the  religion  of  Christ,  which  is  a  religion  of 
sound,  practical,  common  sense — a  religion  of  the  purest 
love  and  humanity — has  found  more  followers  in  America 
than  in  Europe.  There  we  see  the  teachings  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  carried  out  not  merely  theoretically,  but  also 
practically  ;  while,  in  strong  contrast,  many  of  the  heart- 
less social  customs  and  callous  conventionalities  that  pre- 
vail in  Germany  and  England,  resemble  Brahminical, 
pagan,  caste-exclusiveness  much  more  than  Christian 
brotherly  love. 

It  also  deserves  to  be  mentioned,  that  the  generous 
and  hospitable  manner  in  which  the  Americans  receive 
their  English  cousins  in  their  own  land,  shows  that  they 
can  afford  to  be  kind  and  forgiving  to  those  who  do 
not  exactly  like  them.  And  if  at  present  the  Eepublic 
and  a  certain  class  of  American  society  is  deficient 
in  mental  and  in  moral  tone,  we  must  please  remember 
that  we  too  have  had,  and  still  have,  our  sad  sinful  epochs. 
And  America,  whatever  its  condition  may  be  at  present, 
stands  higher  in  humanity,  higher  in  "  practical  Christian- 
ity," and  in  popular  education,  than  England  stood  in  the 
past  or  present,  higher  than  France  stood  under  both  its 


AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  495 

jSTapoleons,  and  higher  than  Germany  stood  under  Barba- 
rossa  or  any  Frederick  or  William.  We  are  veiy  wrong 
in  drawing  any  conclusions  as  regards  the  Republicans  on 
the  other  side  from  that  class  of  Americans  who  come  over 
here  to  seek  an  introduction  at  Court,  or  from  those 
American  girls,  spoiled  by  wealth  and  fashion,  who  go 
flirting  abroad  for  a  count  or  baron,  and  concerning  whom 
we  usually  soon  hear  of  the  complaints  of  the  Republican 
father-in-law,  who  has  to  support,  or  refuses  to  support 
his  titled  son-in-law.  There  are  thousands  of  true, 
genuine  Republicans,  who  are  still  toiling  for  the  welfare 
of  their  fellow-men,  or  have  joined  their  ancestors,  and 
Europe  has  never  known  them.  It  is  rather  amusing, 
too,  to  hear  so  many  Europeans  say  with  a  sigh, 
"  Alas !  we  are  getting  more  and  more  Americanized ;  the 
same  haste  and  dishonesty  in  business,  and  boarding-houses 
of  American  style  increasing."  One  would  suppose  from 
such  remarks  that  our  friends  on  the  other  side  had  sent 
over  to  us  printed  laws  with  strict  instructions  under  a 
heavy  penalty  to  follow  them,  and  that  we  must  needs 
follow  their  example.  And  though  I  have  previously 
spoken  of  a  difference  of  classes  existing  in  America,  it 
must  be  understood  that  this  difference  is  no  regular 
system  ;  for  as  there  is  no  barrier  to  any  rank  of  society, 
the  lowest,  though  he  might  be  despised  by  one  above 
him,  has  every  opportunity  and  privilege  to  reach  him. 
With  the  prevalence  of  popular  education,  and  with  no 
foolish  belief  in  a  higher  and  better  blood,  and  the  absence 
of  established  ranks  and  titles,  no  regular  system  of 
caste  is  possible.  The  qualities  belonging  to  high  cul- 
ture, and  which,  as  we  see  in  Europe,  are  so  dangerous 


496  THE  NORTH  STAR 

when  belonging  to  a  few,  are,  by  unrestricted  social  inter- 
course, and  an  equal  popular  training,  diffused  among 
the  many,  and  become  of  unspeakable  advantage.  Have 
we,  as  citizens  of  the  world  —  have  we  as  Christians  the 
right  to  set  a  barrier  to  our  fellow-men  ?  Are  we  not  cruel 
to  exclude  others  from  the  blessings  of  knowledge,  and  to 
shut  in  their  faces  the  door  of  that  heaven  which  the 
culture  of  our  minds  and  the  enlightenment  of  our  intel- 
lect alone  can  give  ?  When  speaking  to  the  poor  and  op- 
pressed in  those  countries  in  Europe,  where  the  worship 
of  the  nobility  and  a  regular  system  of  caste  is  established, 
it  is  the  universal  cry :  "  Be  content  with  what  thou  hast, 
and  bear  thy  position,  however  poor  and  trying,  with 
Christian  patience ;  look  up  at  me,  and  down  on  thyself, 
says  the  cruel  despot  to  his  fellow-man.  Be  humble, 
obedient,  and  patient,  as  becomes  a  true  Christian,  and 
remain  where  thou  art;  this  is  a  sad  world  of  ours,  a 
place  of  trials  and  tribulations,  but  in  heaven  things  will 
turn  out  better."  In  Europe  it  is  consequently  and 
usually  only  those  who  have  the  means  to  be  trained  as 
scholars  that  become  scholars.  There  are  of  course  ex- 
ceptions, but  not  many,  for  with  the  restrictions  and 
distinctions  of  society,  as  is  especially  the  case  in  England, 
and  with  the  established  rule  that  to  the  people  of  rank 
and  title  are  given  the  most  prominent  positions  in  the 
land  —  little  encouragement  is  given  to  self-improvement 
and  self-culture.  Our  scholars  are  therefore  mostly 
"  University  "  scholars  ;  onr  men  and  women  are  trained 
according  to  their  birth  and  rank,  and  we  meet  but  a  few 
self-made  men  and  self-trained  scholars.  In  America  it  is 
far  diiferent,  and  he  who  is  imprisoned  in  the  narrow  cell 


.AN2)  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  497 

of  social  restrictions  and  prejudices,  and  who  has  an  im- 
pulse, a  desire  to  free  himself  from  these  cruel  chains  and 
enter  the  road  of  self -redemption,  of  self-culture  —  let  me 
take  him  to  a  field  open  on  all  sides,  to  a  University  open 
to  all  who  come.  There  I  will  show  him  the  picture  of  self- 
made  men,  of  trained  scholars  —  will  show  him  the  men  of 
genius  and  reason,  of  diligence  and  perseverance  —  and  I 
will  teach  him  that  any  man,  whether  of  high  blood,  or 
middle-class  blood,  or  of  inferior  blood,  can  raise  himself 
up  to  the  exalted  position  of  a  free  man,  and  become  a 
phoenix  of  intelligence,  guiding  himself  step  by  step  to  the 
highest  sphere  of  human  knowledge,  and  in  the  happiness 
and  blessings  of  his  own  mind  approaching  the  ideal  of  his 
Maker.  This  field,  this  university,  this  popular  school, 
where  all  men  and  women,  no  matter  whatever  their  blood 
may  be,  are  allowed  to  learn  and  to  know  something,  is 
free  America.  There  any  man,  whether  he  be  born  in 
the  capital  of  Washington  or  in  the  backwoods  of  the 
"West,  may  become  one  of  the  most  prominent  members  of 
society,  may  become  even  a  President  and  chief  of  the 
nation,  for  all  the  gates  to  any  and  all  the  advancements 
and  privileges  of  the  State  and  society  are  open  to  him  — 
are  open  to  all. 

I  have  boarded  for  two  years  in  a  large  boarding-estab- 
lishment in  New  York,  and  which  is  about  as  good  as  any 
other  boarding-place  of  its  kind,  and  there  came  in  contact 
with  many  people  of  the  different  States.  In  the  capitals 
of  Germany  almost  every  third  man  is  an  officer  or  soldier ; 
but  in  America  almost  every  third  man  is  a  scholar,  and 
no  doubt  the  science  of  freedom  has  already  produced  the 
noblest  fruits  on  this  Republican  soil.  So  much  is  done 
VOL.  n.  32 


498  THE  NORTH  STAR 

for  the  elevation  of  the  masses,  that  people,  in  whatever 
state  or  country  they  may  live,  have  as  examples  men 
in  prominent  positions  who  have  trained  themselves,  and 
they  are  stirred  to  action  and  encouraged  to  improve  their 
minds  and  to  become  respectable  members  of  the  State 
and  society.  As  an  encouragement  to  others,  I  would  cite 
some  examples  of  self-made  and  self-taught  men  of  my 
own  acquaintance. 

I  have  a  friend,  Mr.  Rathbone,  president  of  the  Evans- 
ville  National  Bank  (Indiana),  whose  acquaintance  I  made 

at  Dr. ,  and  who  began  his  career  in  the  backwoods 

of  the  West.  But  he  had  the  courage  and  the  persever- 
ance not  only  to  amass  a  fortune,  but,  what  is  still  greater, 
to  train  and  to  educate  himself  to  become  an  eminent 
scholar.  While  toiling  for  his  own  daily  bread,  and 
while  planning  and  pursuing  his  road  to  material  wealth, 
he  read  and  studied  the  books  of  the  best  European  and 
American  authors ;  he  worked  hard,  supported  his  family 
and  his  nearest  relatives,  and  by  the  time  he  had  reached 
the  comfortable  position  of  a  banker  he  also  was  an  ac- 
complished scholar,  able  to  converse  on  any  subject  taught 
in  any  European  university,  and  in  conversation  he  is  one 
of  the  finest  and  most  instructive  speakers.  At  Dr. 

I  was  also   well  acquainted    with    a    very    kind 

gentleman,  Mr.  Simmons,  very  small  in  stature,  but 
thoroughly  a  scholar  by  his  own  training  and  self-acquire- 
ments, while  all  along  he  toiled  for  the  sustenance  of  himself 
and  family  and  provided  for  their  future.  In  the  same 
establishment  I  had  another  friend,  Mr.  Tressidder,  a  young 
lawyer,  of  New  Y"ork,  whom  I  would  cite  as  an  example 
to  those  young  men  who  have  no  prospect,  no  future 


AND  TEE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  499 

before  them,  and  who  have  to  shape  their  own  course  in 
life.  He  was  born  in  Cornwall,  England,  and  while  yet  a 
boy  was  transplanted  to  the  backwoods  of  America,  but 
from  there  he  migrated  to  the  metropolis  of  New  York, 
and,  supporting  himself  and  his  parents,  whom  he  had 
left  in  the  West,  he  still  found  time  to  study  first  his 
own  language,  as  well  as  Greek,  Latin,  and  German,  and 
trained  himself  to  be  an  accomplished  gentleman  and  a 
skilful  lawyer,  doing  well  at  present  and  with  a  promising 
future  before  him  !  A  large  number  of  Americans  have 
the  good  sense  first  to  toil  hard  to  acquire  means,  and 
then  they  take  a  trip  across  the  Atlantic,  and  enjoy  a  short 
tour  abroad  in  order  to  study  foreign  nations,  their  customs 
and  history.  And  although  some  travel  en  galop,  in 
their  nervous  haste  to  return  home  to  their  business,  yet, 
with  their  sober,  ambitious  minds,  and  their  keen  sense  of 
observation,  they  succeed  in  carrying  home  a  well- 
stocked  brain.  America  indeed  is  a  fortunate  land  as 
regards  self-made  men,  and  no  race  on  earth  can  show 
better  examples  for  self-culture  and  self-improvement. 
Moreover,  America,  of  all  nations  in  the  West,  is  the 
only  one  that  can  afford  to  dispense  with  a  standing  army, 
and  where  I  have  seen  no  slave,  except  those  pitiable  "  fe- 
male slaves  "  —  the  lunatics  of  criminal  fashion  mentioned 
previously  —  the  enemies  of  the  nation's  growth  and  glory, 
whose  iniquities  are  never  censured  by  progressive  (?) 
women,  preaching  reform  and  modesty  to  men,  while  fair 
hands  hold  and  guide  the  fatal  shaft,  while  fostering 
the  criminal  insanity  of  "  gentle  natures."  But  not  taking 
into  account  this  miserable  kind  of  "  voluntary "  female 
slaves  and  lunatics,  it  might  be  said  in  all  truth  that  every 


500  THE  NORTH  STAR 

man  in  the  United  States  is  free,  and  every  woman 
might  be  free  if  she  chose.  On  Columbia's  soil  we  meet 
no  soldier  slave — no  lazy  military  officer  trailing  his 
sword,  a  disgrace  to  the  land  and  the  civilised  name  it 
bears.  What  is  the  virtue,  what  the  honour  of  any  in- 
dividual that  wants  to  be  watched  by  day  and  •  by  night  ? 
What  is  the  freedom  and  the  honour  of  any  territory 'or 
country  that  wants  to  be  constantly  guarded,  the  sword 
ever  drawn  for  its  defence,  ever  ready  to  strike  ?  Hail, 
then,  to  Columbia  !  Hail  to  every  country  that  has  freed 
its  slaves  !  Heaven  will  smile  on  this  glorious  republican 
land,  and  on  its  many  good  and  noble  sons  and  its  true 
and  heroic  women,  who,  in  advance  of  all  their  fellow- 
beings,  have  redeemed  the  poor  and  the  oppressed,  and 
who  so  nobly  endeavour  to  train  the  child  of  man  accord- 
ing to  the  will  of  our  Maker.  For  this,  God  will  be  ap- 
peased ;  He  will  forgive  the  errors  of  the  past,  and  bless 
the  republic  and  its  people ;  and  from  Columbia  will  shine 
anew,  in  all  its  glory,  the  star  of  liberty  and  bliss ! 

While  writing  my  narrative  and  drawing  my  picture  in 
the  valley  of  the  Alps,  I  have  not  forgotten  Miss  Cosserat, 
my  poor  protegee.  I  often  wrote  to  Madame  Gabrielle, 
the  Lady  Superior  of  the  convent  at  Cortenbergh,  and 
inquired  after  the  unhappy  orphan,  but  the  replies  I 
received  were  very  unsatisfactory,  they  being  all  alike, 
and  the  last  reply  of  this  lady  was  a  mere  copy  of  the 
first.  But  Madame  Gabrielle,  who  received  the  poor 
lunatic  out  of  my  hands,  had,  it  appears,  left  the  convent 
at  Cortenbergh  in  the  month  of  October,  1874.  When  I 
wrote  to  her  last,  my  letter  was  answered  after  some  time 
by  another  lady,  and  it  runs  as  follows :  — 


AND    THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  501 

"Miss  WEPPNER, 

"  I  have  delayed  answering  your  letter,  because  I 
was  not  sure  if  I  could  write  to  you  about  poor  Miss 
Cosserat.  In  any  case,  I  cannot  do  it  without  leave  of  the 
family,  or  I  would  consider  it  as  a  breach  of  confidence. 
The  Lady  Superior  Gabrielle  is  now  in  one  of  our  other 
houses. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"&R.  MARIE  THERESE, 

"  Sup6rieure  St.  Joseph's  Convent,  Cortenbergh, 

"Belgium." 

I  cannot  therefore  tell  the  reader  whether  my  protegee  is 
dead  or  alive.  I  have  written  three  letters  to  Mr.  Cosserat 
at  Blankipore,  Patna,  India,  and  in  every  one  of  them  I 
gave  him  a  full  account  of  our  journey,  and  told  him  what 
a  trying  time  I  had  during  the  ten  weeks  I  had  been  the 
guardian  of  his  poor  lunatic  child.  But  Mr.  Cosserat  re- 
mained silent  to  all  my  letters,  which  must  have  reached 
him,  as  otherwise  they  would  have  been  returned  to  me  by 
the  post  officials  of  Patna.  I  never  again  heard  any  more 
of  Mr.  James  Cosserat  since  I  left  Bombay  with  his 
daughter  ;  he  never,  although  he  must  have  learned  all  I 
suffered  with  his  lunatic  child,  sent  me  a  simple  word  of 
thanks.  I  have  heard  something  of  an  Indian  law,  which 
might  have  induced  him  to  "  distance  "  his  poor,  suffering 
child,  in  order  to  inherit  her  mother's  fortune,  in  case 
the  latter  was  dead.  But  I  cannot  speak  positively  of 
anything,  and  all  concerning  the  history  of  the  poor 
lunatic  is  to  me  as  dark  as  ever.  Yet  I  pray  God  to 
enable  me  to  rescue  the  unfortunate  creature  from  the 


602  THE  NORTH  STAR 

gloomy  walls  of  her  monastic  prison,  and  as  soon  as  my 
circumstances  will  permit  of  a  journey  to  Cortenbergh, 
Belgium,  I  shall  endeavour  to  find  out  whether  the  poor 
orphan  is  yet  among  the  living,  or  wh  ether  she  has  gone 
to  the  home  and  to  the  Father  of  all. 

Shortly  before  this  narrative  was  given  to  the  public,  I 
left  London  for  my  home,  vi£  Belgium.  I  stopped  at 
Cortenbergh  and  went  to  the  convent  of  St.  Joseph,  where 
I  requested  to  see  Miss  Cosserat.  I  was  told  by  the  Lady 
Superior  that  I  could  not  see  her,  and  to  my  question, 
whether  she  was  still  alive,  I  was  given  no  reply.  The 
Lady  Superior  sternly  refused  to  answer  any  question 
concerning  her,  telling  me  that  she  could  not  and  would 
not  betray  the  confidence  of  the  lunatic's  father. 

And  now,  dear  reader,  I  must  bid  you  farewell ;  often 
during  the  tune  you  have  travelled  with  me,  and  while 
I  have  led  you  to  my  most  beloved  spots  in  this  glorious 
world,  have  I  thought  again  of  my  first  trip  over  the 
swelling  billows  of  the  Atlantic.  How  timid  and  inex- 
perienced, how  anxious  and  tearful  I  was  then,  landing  as 
I  did  in  New  York,  burdened  with  a  debt  of  200  francs ! 
All  is  changed  now  ;  I  am  not  rich,  but  I  possess  an  inex- 
haustible treasure,  a  wealth  of  beautiful  memories,  which 
are  to  me  an  eternal  and  unfailing  source  of  the  purest 
delight.  All  painful  and  bitter  recollections  of  my  journey 
round  the  world  withdraw  farther  and  farther  into  the 
background  as  time  moves  on,  whilst  pleasant  reminis- 
cences come  into  the  foreground.  Previously  to  my  cir- 
cular tour  I  saw  all  distant  countries  through  a  mist ;  now 
the  mist  has  disappeared,  all  is  clear,  and  I  see  near  and 


AND    THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS.  503 

distant  scenes  of  the  earth  and  of  nature  in  the  full  glory 
of  the  sunlight.  1  am.  happy,  and  for  no  kingdom  in 
the  world  would  I  give  up  the  treasures  which  I  hold  in 
my  memory.  Nothing,  nothing  now  troubles  my  recol- 
lections of  my  journey  round  the  world.  I  have  put  to 
shame  the  evil-doers,  of  whom  in  fact  I  have  met  but  two  / 
I  have  pardoned  their  injustice,  and  I  remember  their  acts 
with  pity  and  contempt.  The  many  good  and  noble  peo- 
ple, whom  I  met  with  far  and  near,  and  who  so  gener- 
ously protected  me,  will  ever  stand  forth  in  my  memory 
like  bright  and  shining  stars.  While  traversing  four  con- 
tinents, I  have  only  stayed  in  hotels  three  times  —  a  fact 
proving  that  I  have  met  kind  and  hospitable  people 
in  every  land.  By  men  of  every  nation  I  have  been 
trusted  as  to  the  honest  motive  of  my  purpose,  and  they 
have  nobly  assisted  me.  Railway  and  steamship  compa- 
nies have  treated  me  most  generously,  and  from  Paris 
through  America,  Asia,  and  Africa,  back  to  my  home,  I 
have  paid  for  but  one  steamship  ticket  out  of  my  own 
purse,  viz.,  on  a  steamer  from  Hong-Kong  to  Canton, 
belonging  to  a  German  firm  at  Hong-Kong. 

And  thus  I  have  been  enabled  to  read  the  magnificent 
book  of  the  universe,  I  have  seen  some  of  the  greatest 
wonders  of  nature,  and  in  this  beautiful  world  I  have  en- 
joyed so  many  delightful  rambles,  so  many  hours  of  joy 
and  bliss.  How  often  now  in  imagination  I  am  gazing  at 
the  mighty  cataracts  of  Niagara,  the  grandest  shrine  I  ever 
beheld ;  I  am  again  with  my  lovely  flowers,  and  strolling  on 
Java's  luxuriant  soil.  Sailing  over  Malacca's  deep,  I  look 
at  the  Southern  Cross,  but  on  and  on  my  spirit  floats.  On 
the  Himalayas  I  again  behold  the  rising  sun  over  that 


804      THE  NORTH  STAB  AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS. 

colossal  peak.  And  I  am  looking  up  to  the  blue  vaults 
above  that  silvery  crown  of  purest  snow !  Deo  gratias  ! 
my  heart  is  bounding  with  joy,  and  my  spirit  speeding 
over  well-known  lovely  places  as  it  returns  home  to  my 
native  Rhine. 

I  thank  thee,  kind  Preserver,  for  thy  wise  and  wonder- 
ful guidance,  for  thy  fatherly  protection,  and  for  that 
angel  of  Thine  who,  at  Thy  holy  wish,  has  escorted  me 
and  has  led  me  safely  home ! 

And  you,  dear  friends,  both  far  and  near,  accept  my 
earnest  thanks  ;  your  kindness  I  shall  ever  remember,  and 
I  shall  always  remain, 

Your  grateful 

MARGABETHA  WEPPNER. 


THE  END. 


THE  NORTH  STAR  AND  THE  SOUTHERN  CROSS. 

A  Two  Years'  Journey  Round  the  World, 

BY  — 

MISS  MARGARETHA  WEPPNER. 

IN  Two  VOLUMES. 

Published  in  England  by  Sampson,  Low  &  Co.,  and  in  America 
by  the  Author. 

On  sale  at  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  N.  Y. ;  and  in  Philadelphia  at 
J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.,  and  at  Claxton,  Remsen  &  Haffel- 
finger.  Copies  will  also  be  forwarded  by  addressing  the 
Author,  care  of  Cooper  Union,  New  York  city. 

"  She  is  straightforward,  fair  minded,  and  succeeds  in  giving  a 
very  lively  impression  of  the  customs  and  conditions  of  the  va- 
rious peoples  amongst  whom  she  sojourned.  *  *  *  *  We  can 
honestly  recommend  the  book  as  being  a  trustworthy  and  genuine 
report  of  what  was  seen  and  experienced  in  very  exceptional  cir- 
cumstances. We  do  not  think  any  person  could  read  many  pages 
without  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  Miss  Weppner  is  a  woman 
of  more  than  ordinary  determination,  tact  and  character."  —  Lon- 
don Nonconformist. 

' '  Miss  Weppner  bears  a  very  high  character ;  she  is  evidently  a 
woman  of  great  kindliness  of  disposition,  and  possesses  sound 
judgment,  good  sense  and  an  indomitable  energy  and  perseverance 
in  doing  what  she  thinks  her  sense  of  duty  demands.  Independ- 
ently of  this  thrilling  tale,  which  forms  a  mere  fraction  of  the 
book,  her  cosmopolitan  narrative  is  brimful  of  adventures,  which 
are  given  with  rnuch  freshness  and  spirit." — London  Rock,  aChurcl\ 
of  England  Family  Newspaper. 

"Miss  Margaretha  Weppner  must  be  allowed  the  merit  of  pluck. 
She  started  on  a  journey  round  the  world,  and  after  many  perils, 
duly  accomplished  her  task. "  —  London  Globe. 

"The  book  is  a  characteristic  one  with  many  instructive  and 
entertaining  pages ;  Miss  Weppner  observes  carefully  and  relates 
in  a  manner  to  keep  up  the  interest  of  the  reader." — The  Late 
William  Cullen  Bryant. 

"It  is  written  in  a  simple,  unaffected  style  that  is  attractive, 
and  considered  merely  as  the  history  of  a  personal  experience,  the 
narrative  is  astonishing."  —  Philadelphia  Evening  Telegraph. 

"  This  book  is  not  like  ordinary  books,  as  Miss  Weppner  herself 
is  not  like  ordinary  travellers.  It  is  a  remarkable  book,  because 
the  product  of  a  keenly  observant  mind,  controlled  by  a  truth- 
loving  heart.  "  —  Philadelphia  Bulletin. 


AHK  *  S  1988 


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DATE  DUE 


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